My 'vested interest'

Recently more than one or two people have accused us of having a vested interest in the outcome of the Carbon Farming Initiative. Well they're right! Here you see our vested interests. Our grandchildren -the ones who will feel the full brunt of Climate CHange when we won't be there to protect them. We do have an ulterior motive. We're not just doing this for farmers. We're doing it for these kids - Brody, Portia and Xavier. Now that we are getting towards the pointy end of the process of winning for farmers the right to grow and be rewarded for growing their soil carbon levels, it would be strange if those who have been against our campaign all along should not stir the possum at this late stage.
These are the facts: Carbon Farmers of Australia is a not-for-profit company. We have launched many services for farmers interested in soil carbon credits in the past 6 years to drive the campaign forward and because no one else did: the Carbon Farming Conference, the Carbon Cocky Awards (with the Central West CMA), the Carbon Farming Handbook, the 1-day Carbon Farming Workshop, the blog, the Newsletter, the Carbon Farming & Trading Association. With our colleagues in the Bridge Consortium, we have donated hundreds of person-hours working on a soil carbon methodology for which we cannot claim any intellectual property and therefore no return apart from seeing the market open. We are launching a Regional Carbon Market Summit to make sure as much of the wealth created by the CFI stays in the regions. We are launching a representation, advocacy and aggregation service to give farmers the option of dealing with a known quantity in the new market and because there isn't much knowledge about trading in the traditional channels because few have paid attention and taken the time to learn this new language and farmers need information NOW. And finally we have launched a service for companies wanting to go carbon neutral voluntarily, to create a market for farm offsets.
Anyone who thinks working for 6 years for nothing in order to make a business in a market that there was no guarantee of ever emerging is a smart move must have rocks in their heads. Vested interest, indeed.
We all have a vested interest in the success of the soil carbon offsets market. Soil Carbon is widely acknowledged as the only chance we've got to hold Global Warming around the 2°C level beyond which the scientists recite doomsday scenarios. Remember that famous phrase from our first Conference: "We're all in this together." Not to get rich. What's the use of money if you've got no hope for the future?