By Carbon Tax Dystopia
by Nicholas Creed | Creed Speech Substack
The inspiration to dive into this topic for South East Asia / ASEAN came from the outstanding work done by Whitney Webb and Mark Goodwin at Unlimited Hangout. Specifically from their article entitled Debt From Above – which covered carbon credits, the financialistion of nature itself, and a smart system surveillable grid of nature’s resources throughout the Latin Americas, employing satellite technology and distributed ledger tozenisation technology.
NATURE’S RESOURCES AS AN ASSET CLASS
Whitney Webb and Mark Goodwin wrote:
In a 2023 article, Lockton’s head of Digital Integration and Special Projects, David Briscoe, wrote that making carbon credits “a stable and trusted currency” would “require the support of the insurance market.” This is because, as Briscoe notes, “voluntary” carbon markets come with risks, particularly because “of the financial values involved.” Per Briscoe, these risks include “non- or under-delivery of forward purchased carbon removal credits,” “start-ups involved in the voluntary carbon market may face insolvency risks,” and “fraud and negligence.” Indeed, mismanagement and fraud has been a major driver of why carbon markets have failed to catch on despite relentless promotion and the adoption of ESG and climate change plans by many of the most powerful names in finance and industry. Instead of addressing the rampant fraud in carbon credits directly, it appears that the high probability of fraud and insolvency has been seen as an opportunity to create a new market for the insurance industry, with carbon credit insurance being framed as the only “feasible” means of de-risking the fraud-prone world of carbon markets, which have been criticized by environmental groups and have been shown to have a negligible impact on climate.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been exploring the creation of a regional carbon market to facilitate the trading of carbon credits among member states. This initiative aims claim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote sustainable development, and generate revenue for participating countries. The ASEAN Carbon Market would allow companies to purchase carbon credits from other companies within the region, incentivizing the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and promoting the use of renewable energy sources.
The REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) program is an international initiative that aims to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation by providing financial incentives to countries that implement sustainable forest management practices. ASEAN countries have been researched under a report based on ‘investment priority mapping’.
Designed to map and assess social forestry programs and business models, our use of se.plan aids in delineating investment-worthy areas within the social forestry landscape. Its geospatial analysis considers biogeophysical aspects, market infrastructure proximity, and accessibility to market intermediaries, aligning with the initiative’s goal of identifying priority areas for social forestry investment in some ASEAN countries. Results provide actionable insights to help guide the sustainable commercialization and scaling up of social forestry-based enterprises in the region.
