Climate change PhD candidate Finn Ross is the founder of Carbonz. He says the foundation of the business is rooted in allowing Kiwi businesses and investors to maximise the impact of their carbon offsets via supporting native forest.
“There is currently little liquidity in the New Zealand marketplace for carbon credits. Typically, carbon credits are sold in large blocks via the Emissions Trading Scheme with infrequent trades,” says Finn.
“The existing Emissions Trading Scheme for carbon offset purchases is not well set up for kiwis hoping to support regeneration of native forests. It’s made for foresters with pine monoculture plantations. Carbonz is for kiwis who want to see more native forests being restored in Aotearoa.”
Carbonz is the country’s first voluntary carbon credit marketplace for tradable credits that can be traced right back to the source. Each credit is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
Carbonz is partnering with CarbonCrop to bring buyers and sellers of native carbon credits together. CarbonCrop, a New Zealand company that uses artificial intelligence to measure the carbon sequestration of regenerating native forest on private farmland, has this week launched Native CarbonCrop Units (CCU).
These recognise native carbon sequestration outside of the Emissions Trading Scheme, giving landholders easy access to a new income stream and providing brands a new source of high-integrity carbon offsets dedicated to native forest.
CarbonCrop CEO, Jo Blundell (pictured), is excited to launch Native CarbonCrop Units and give landholders a new way to earn revenue from native regeneration on their properties.
“Partnering with Carbonz means we can connect our landholders with buyers of carbon offsets who care about native forest and want confidence in the origin of the offsets they purchase. Collectively, these efforts will incentivise the restoration of native forest across New Zealand in addition to offsetting carbon emissions.”
Carbonz is selling voluntary carbon credits certified by CarbonCrop, as well as New Zealand Units (NZUs), the carbon credits used by the Emissions Trading Scheme, sourced from native forests. Businesses, investors and individuals can purchase carbon credits through the platform to not only offset a carbon footprint, but also as an investment.
“With the carbon market building momentum across the globe, now is the time for traceable carbon credits that celebrate native biodiversity regeneration. We are proud to be providing this to Kiwis,” adds Finn.
“Carbon markets are currently gate kept in New Zealand and most Kiwis don’t understand how credits work or their ability to access and trade them. All Kiwis can get on the carbon credit train by making small purchases, you don’t need to be a large corporation contributing tens of thousands of dollars.”
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