The TV Show that spawned an idea.
In 1999 the ABC TV in Australia broadcast an episode of Four Corners, a show whose theme music for is entrenched into the mind of most Australians my age I suspect. This particular episode, the last for the year, was not, as some would guess, about the Y2K bug, but concerned global warming. Emission Impossible was the title.
This program examines the big issue for the next millenium, global warming. Reporter, Ian Henschke, examines the threats that face us and the arguments about what we should do. He also examines Australia’s role in climate change and asks – are we doing enough?
Deep into the show they started talking about carbon credits and the historic deal that had just been closed between Norway and Costa Rica.
Ian Henschke: Franz Tattenbach heads a nongovernment organisation called FUNDECOR. He set up the world’s first carbon offset deal worth two million dollars with a Norwegian consortium in 1997. Today he has a group from the German Development Bank and the World Bank looking at how his country is capitalising on Kyoto. Farmers are now being paid to plant trees, and paid not to cut down forest on their land.
Franz Tattenbach, FUNDECOR, Costa Rica: It is a surprise now how in Costa Rica a farmer, any simple farmer, could tell you about carbon offsets and why they might be producing some sort of global good that might be interested to be purchased by some Norwegian company or the Norwegian Government. And that’s quite fascinating, the level of understanding of this global issue that some Costa Rican farmers get now.
Ian Henschke: Costa Rica still harvests timber and runs sustainable forestry programs, and although it means in many cases there’s less money for the people, conservation of forests is still seen as a priority.
Carlos Gonzales, Timber Worker: In my opinion they just haven’t realised that we are all going to destroy ourselves. If nature disappears, this will just become a hell, right?
It was this show that gave Ross Williams the idea of setting up Carbon Planet and I am grateful every day that Ross chose to phone me up and see if I’d be interested in being part of it. — DS
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