Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskIndividuals, companies and trusts have been buying up properties for their environmental potential for about two years, says Robert McCulloch of Strutt and Parker, an estate agent. Estates in the Highlands are often not fertile enough for profitable farming and the properties are large, making it easier to do tree-planting or peatland restoration that sequesters carbon at scale.
. Firms and funds mostly set their land holdings against emissions from their own businesses. In 2020 BrewDog, a beermaker, bought 3,800 hectares in the Highlands; it now claims that its carbon offsets are double its emissions. Aviva Investors snapped up 6,300 hectares in Aberdeenshire for similar reasons.