November 14, 2024

STRATHSPEY, Scotland — As BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie walks through his newly acquired 9,000 acres of muted amber and jade moss, the Aberdeenshire native explains what makes Scotland’s peat so special – and why those global corporation invested in peat in the first place.

“This is a hundred-year project,” Dickie told ABC News in an interview at the Kinrara Estate in Kinrara, Scotland. Named the Lost Forest, this plot of land has undergone an ecological transformation since the craft brewery bought it to restore.

Often evoked as an unfavorable metaphor, swamps have long had a reputation for unholy inhospitality. Although peat bogs hardly conjure up beautiful images of rainforests or oceans, these waterlogged, carbon-packed ecosystems may be key to offsetting the adverse effects of climate change.

Peatlands, made up of partially decayed plant matter, cover about 3% of the Earth’s land surface but store 30% of all the planet’s soil carbon. Decomposing peatland releases carbon dioxide, meaning healthy peat is better for the planet.

Scotland — which has held the nation’s greenhouse gases for about 140 years — also offers lucrative government subsidies for deep-pocketed private bog owners. Businesses, such as Dickie’s beer company, and the Scottish government noticed the potential of peat. The government covers 80% of the costs of land restorers.

In 2012, the Scottish government started the Peatland Action Programme, which funds land managers hoping to restore peat. In December, 638 Scottish forests were registered with the Woodland Carbon Code, a national scheme that allows landowners to sell carbon credits, where the carbon dioxide absorbed by new trees is sold for companies to offset their carbon emissions.

Other climate-conscious business owners buying into Scotland, sometimes given the moniker “green lairds” by locals, include Asos multibillionaire Anders Povlsen, life insurance companies and funds of private equity.

Some environmental experts argue that carbon credits lead to corporate solutions to the climate crisis. Because the Scottish government puts a monetary value on carbon reductions, carbon credits attract private money to environmental restoration projects.

Dickie was part of a new generation of Highland landowners, snapping up rural estates in the name of climate and profit.

“Only by the person with the dollar to spend can make the biggest difference,” Martin said. “They decide to spend where their money will make the biggest difference.”

Land ownership in Scotland was clearly deregulated, allowing moguls to buy as many acres as they wanted, according to University of the Highlands research fellow Magnus Davidson. Some people who own the land actually have more economic power than the people who actually live on it, Davidson added.

“Land inequality, wealth inequality,” Davidson told ABC News.

As the Scottish market has heated up with public interest, land prices have increased significantly, Davidson added. The “green rush” is already making money for businesses investing in climate initiatives.

Scotland is set to become a leader in eco-tourism, according to National Geographic environmental journalist Sarah Gibbens, who is also using privatization to fight climate change. National Geographic chose the Scottish Highlands for its iconic “Best in the World” list because of the country’s efforts to restore its land to meet climate goals, replant lost species and peat restoration. Scotland’s peatland conservation is sustainable and exciting for the future, Gibbens told ABC News.

“When tourists come to Scotland, they help stimulate the local economy again, making Scotland more beautiful than ever,” said Gibbens.

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