Making money out of thin and clean air

For thousands of impoverished households in Southwest China's Guizhou province, air－which is the most unlikely income source－has brought in solid earnings.

A total of 2,649 households from 60 villages are expected to each get an additional 960 yuan ($136) a year from the forest carbon sink trading project, according to the provincial ecology and environment department.

In Lengfeng village, Panzhou, Li Xiaosheng makes 1,350 yuan from his 450 cedar trees every year. He made this additional income after he registered his trees on the carbon sink trading platform.

Li has a wife who is disabled and a son who is in college. His family depends on government subsidies and farming for a living.

"Good air sells for a good price," the 52-year-old said. "I will take good care of my trees."

As one of the national ecological civilization pilot zones, the Guizhou government launched the plant carbon sink trading project in December 2017. Trees planted by registered impoverished households are monitored, with the calculation of the amount of carbon emissions stored based on the variety, age and size of each tree.

Wang Jiaqi, from the provincial environment watchdog, said that after photos and information are uploaded onto the platform, each tree will generate a steady stream of income for six years before being resold. Individuals, enterprises and organizations dedicated to low-carbon growth can pay for the trees on the platform to offset emissions, and all the money will be directly wired to the personal bank accounts of the tree owners.

By the end of April, 1,735 individuals had claimed 186,000 trees from 854 households via WeChat, which generated 558,000 yuan for 1,860 metric tons of carbon emissions.

At a poverty alleviation activity in April, 29 companies claimed 500,000 trees from 556 households with total funding of 1.5 million yuan, which will neutralize about 5,000 tons of carbon emissions.

As for incentives, certificates will be issued to the contributors, and their actions will also be recorded on a national credit information sharing platform for public viewing.

Other provinces including Jiangxi and Fujian have also made similar attempts to tackle climate change and poverty, marking a green path for China's poverty eradication efforts.