Energy Investing in Forest Lands

Why are energy companies investing in large swaths of forest?

• The up & coming speculative market in so-called voluntary offsets that can be in forest preservation

Give me an example of how voluntary offsets work:

• In Autumn 2019, BP invested $5 million in Pennsylvania’s Finite Carbon
• Finite Carbon helps landowners create and sell credits

• BP’s investment is aimed at hiring more foresters to begin use of satellites to measure biomass
• This data will allow BP to drum up more credits for use in the voluntary market

How does this work in the real world?

• A company will pay a land owner to keep their trees
• The companies can say they are responsible for having locked up a specific amount of carbon in the standing trees, calculable to the metric ton
• That savings of carbon from the trees offsets other activity emissions

WallStreet Journal | Preserving Trees Becomes Big Business, Driven by Emissions Rules