CARBON UNITS AS A NEW TYPE OF INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Abstract

Every year there is an increasing attention of the world community, scientists, politicians and the world's population to the issues of ecology, conservation of natural resources, which naturally has a significant impact not only on the economy, but also on human health. The countries of the world are trying to solve the problem of minimizing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and the secondary use of raw materials in different ways. One of the tools is the measures of tax regulation of carbon dioxide emissions, a significant part of which falls on the agricultural sector. The concept of "carbon unit" that has appeared is becoming more and more firmly included in the speech turnover of politicians and economists and is a meter of emissions of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of economic entities. Currently, the financial market is actively developing in which emissions quotas are traded, and this market tends to grow every year. The introduction of a "carbon tax" by the European Union in the near future will affect the majority of large Russian producers, whose production is characterized by large greenhouse gas emissions. The tax burden will additionally fall on agriculture, which will naturally have a certain impact on the growth of the cost of production. A new exchange infrastructure has appeared, trading in carbon units, the volumes of which are growing annually, but agricultural producers are still poorly represented on such sites due to the lack of a scientific conceptual base and all the advantages. The article comments on the law on limiting greenhouse gas emissions that has entered into force in Russia, the content of which indicates the need to form a legal framework for the circulation of carbon units, that is, an information system for their accounting as a tool to reduce the carbon footprint and attract investment and the introduction of mandatory carbon reporting for the largest issuers and its provision. The article presents generally accepted methods for estimating atmospheric gas emissions and points out the current problems of the European Emissions Trading System. An assumption is made about the relevance of using data-based management platforms by presenting digital doubles. The design of a decentralized platform based on blockchain technology is proposed, which will allow controlling the processes of movement of carbon units and exclude possible manipulations with them.