Unlike buying stocks, property or land buying carbon credits is not something most investors are familiar with. Unlike the former markets the carbon credit market has not had as much exposure as it is a relatively new investment area.
Where to buy
Whilst as with any investment brokers now fill the market place offering carbon credits from a range of different carbon offsetting projects including forestry, solar and wind power. Brokers will usually have a significant turn on the investment and so the actual value of the carbon credits and the offsetting project should always be researched.
Carbon credit websites
There are now plenty of websites online that sell carbon credits themselves or ones that provide a market for buyers and sellers to come together and trade carbon credits online. This is arguably gthe best way to look for prices and shop the market for the best deal as there are less interests as with brokers.
How to buy carbon credits
The process is fairly simple in physically buying credits. Buying through a broker will usually require ID for anti-money laundering purposes as it is classed as investment whilst not regulated yet by the FSA for most firms. Buying through market place and online portals require slightly less formalities and the rules and regulation are still forming on this market.
Selling carbon credits
Finally selling your credits can be considerably more tricky than buying. First of all the market is still growing and many see real growth in the market not occuring for another couple of years as carbon emissions become more of an issue. This will be a factor in selling as many companies and investors do not require credits as much it is thought that they will do.
Also the avenues through which to sell credits at the moment are rather limited with the market still forming. The online portals which provide an area to buy and sell however this medium is still forming also with perhaps not enough carbon credits out there held by individuals to provide a big enough market place.
Carbon credit brokers are also now adding departments to their business dedicated to providing exit strategies for clients. This namely means they aim to sell on the credits to companies which need to fulfill their carbon offsetting obligations on behalf od their clients.
Visit www.uklandinvestment.co.uk for a free guide for carbon credit investment and trading.