One of South Korea’s biggest financial firms, NH Investment & Securities Co., is planning a push into agricultural carbon offsets as the segment rises in popularity with corporate polluters.
(Bloomberg) — One of South Korea’s biggest financial firms, NH Investment & Securities Co., is planning a push into agricultural carbon offsets as the segment rises in popularity with corporate polluters.
Parent company Nonghyup Financial Group Inc. is owned by more than 2 million member farmers, and that network can be utilized to generate new credits, according to Park Kun Hoo, head of NH’s client solution group and who oversees a carbon finance team.
NH will aim to back projects that convert spent coffee grounds or cow manure into a charcoal-like substance called biochar, which can absorb and store carbon when it’s buried underground.
“We can collect and utilize plant residues and animal waste from Nonghyup’s massive supply chain in the agricultural sector, and turn them into biochar or even electricity,” Park said in an interview. “By doing so, we are not only pushing for more sustainable farming, but also creating carbon credits.”
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While offset purchases fell last year, demand is forecast to rise as polluters in sectors with hard-to-abate emissions face pressure to meet decarbonization targets. Criticism over the usefulness of some categories of credits, like those generated by funding renewable energy assets, is also focusing more attention on alternatives including land-based projects.
NH, which set up a carbon finance team in December, has already agreed to invest in 4EN, a Seoul-based biochar producer. The deal is forecast to help generate 167,000 tons of carbon credits by 2030.
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