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Saving the world one carbon credit at a time
Authors: Nigel BrunelPublication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 2012, Issue N.Z.J.For. 57(1) 2012, pp 13-14, May 2012
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry
Abstract: I have worked as a broker in the financial markets for about 20 years. I’m not a greenie, but I have become greener during my career – which is primarily focussed on carbon trading for OMF (OM Financial). OMF transacted the first trade under the ETS in March 2009. We have transacted over 12 million tonnes of carbon since and operate www. commtrade.co.nz – a platform for the trading of local and international Kyoto units. Our focus is the “compliance carbon” market. I knew very little about climate change four years ago but I have since read quite a bit about it – both sides of the argument – and continue to do so. I am not a climate change zealot but I’m reasonably convinced we are having an impact, so to me it’s all about risk management and how we address those risks. The estimate is the world’s population is going to be 10 billion in 30 years and it’s also estimated food production will need to increase 70% to meet that demand. That’s going to require a huge amount of energy. If you listen to Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, it’s our dependence on oil and its volatile nature that is a big threat to global economic stability.