A research project led by 天美传媒 (BU) will explore how natural capital investment markets could contribute to a successful rural economy.
The Carbon Exchange: Mapping the drivers and impact of the carbon market on rural enterprises in the UK (REINVEST) project will identify the opportunities, limitations and barriers of voluntary carbon markets for rural enterprises.
Carbon markets are a tool for putting a price on carbon emissions, allowing the buying and selling of carbon credits or allowances. This can be used by buyers to offset their own emissions or sold to someone else who needs to offset their emissions.
The project has been funded by the (NICRE) and will be led by Dr Rounaq Nayak, a Lecturer in Sustainability at BU.聽Professor Jian Chang from the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) and Ehtzaz Chaudhary, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Geometric Modelling, are also working on the project, developing聽a short聽animation explaining carbon markets to a wider audience, including stakeholders of the rural economy.
The project will be undertaken in partnership with academics from the Countryside and Community Research Institute, Harper Adams University, and land agents Strutt and Parker.
Dr Nayak said: 鈥淲hile voluntary carbon trading opportunities have been identified as a way for the agriculture sector to help reduce net emissions, claim carbon neutrality and purchase credits, there is limited understanding of how these carbon markets can benefit rural enterprises.鈥�
鈥淭his project seeks to identify how rural enterprises such as farm businesses, SMEs, and land agents navigate, understand and exploit these opportunities, and how they overcome the potential limitations and barriers of voluntary carbon markets.鈥�
Project outputs will include the聽animated video and infographics explaining carbon markets and helping rural enterprises to better understand how they work and how to use them.
By identifying how carbon markets are used and how they can contribute to a successful rural economy, the project will also help to inform local and regional policies and support rural enterprises鈥� engagement with carbon markets.
It is one of awarded a share of 拢100,000 in funding聽by NICRE to examine how rural enterprises are adapting to the major challenges affecting the economy.
NICRE director Jeremy Phillipson, Professor of Rural Development at the Centre for Rural Economy at Newcastle University, said: 鈥淭he rural economy is in a state of flux as it grapples changes in working practices accelerated by the pandemic and the stark challenges of the cost-of-doing-business crisis.
鈥淐oupled with the drive to net zero and against the backdrop of the agricultural transition, these projects will shed important light on how these contemporary issues are affecting rural enterprise, giving valuable insights that will help inform future policymaking and support for rural businesses.鈥�
