Carbon speculator concerns expressed by Mid Wales MS

Plaid Cymru’s Mabon ap Gwynfor and Cefin Campbell, the Mid Wales MS, met with the group from Fifty Shades of Green regarding planting of woodland on fertile farmland by multinational companies.

The group says thousands of hectares of New Zealand farmland has been lost to multinational businesses and carbon speculators for blanket woodland planting for carbon offsetting purposes.

The group argued that the New Zealand government’s incentives to plant trees to offset greenhouse gas emissions and meet reduction targets, were tilting the market too far in favour of both domestic and overseas forestry investors.

Gwyn Jones, media spokesperson for Fifty Shades of Green said: “We welcomed the opportunity to meet with Mabon and Cefin and share the experiences faced by communities across New Zealand of fertile farmland being purchased by overseas companies and carbon speculators for blanket forestry.

“In New Zealand, our hill country farms are increasingly becoming the sacrificial lamb in our country’s effort toward managing climate change. This is turn has a detrimental impact on our rural communities, nature, and crucially food production – concerns we understand are increasingly being replicated in Wales, and other countries across the world.”

In Wales since 2015, Plaid Cymru says, over £1.3m Welsh Government funding for tree planting went to applicants outside of Wales.

Mr Campbell added: “Over the past few months alone I have met with communities across Powys, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire who have expressed concerns regarding this blanket ‘greenwashing’ by absentee multinationals.”