Choosing the right carbon partner for UK nature-based solutions
With the global climate crisis at the forefront of business operations and carbon offsetting under scrutiny in light of the Verra carbon credit investigation, Martin Turner, Woodland Trust Relationship Manager (and our carbon lead for Corporate Partnerships), explains the Woodland Trust’s approach to carbon offsetting with our Woodland Carbon offer:
It is widely recognised that there’s a global climate crisis and that we need to do something about it if we are to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. It’s also recognised that this links in with a global nature crisis, and that we need to protect species and their habitats instead of damaging the atmosphere and destroying their homes.
Currently, organisations globally, and those with a UK focus, are doing fantastic work to reduce their carbon footprint and to look at how they can mitigate unavoidable emissions. The mitigation piece can be challenging and confusing. Standards for things like Net-Zero evolve and change, and there is a bewildering choice of schemes for ‘carbon offsetting.’ Even, as has happened recently, widely used and respected global offsetting schemes can come into serious question.
Surely, it’s time that UK organisations who are looking to mitigate emissions derived from UK business operations look close to home for UK nature-based solutions?
The Woodland Trust is committed to creating new UK woodland working to first-class conservation principles and delivering the best outcomes for UK woods and trees, nature and people. We would do this whether there was a ‘formal carbon’ impact or not - but guess what, there is!
The Trust registers most of its woodland creation schemes with the Woodland Carbon Code, with tough standards on additionality, resulting in our Woodland Carbon offer which delivers formal removals carbon credits in the UK voluntary carbon market. We then work with organisations that can demonstrate a clear emissions reduction strategy to provide a solution to their unavoidable emissions.
It’s all happening here in the UK; you can even venture into the woodlands that are being created to deliver these formal carbon outcomes!
And you could even help to plant the trees…so what are you waiting for?
The UK has committed to being Net-Zero by 2050 and the Climate Change Committee has advised that to achieve this, as part of the solution, we should be aiming to plant?around 30,000 hectares of new native woodland in the UK every year until 2050. That is nearly a million hectares over the next 30 years. Over the last five years, the rate of woodland expansion has been on average just under 10,000ha per year – unfortunately that’s just not enough.
Additionally, a study conducted by the Natural History Museum in October 2021 revealed that the UK was in the bottom 10% of the world’s countries for nature depletion – last in the G7 and far behind countries like China. That same year, the Woodland Trust produced its State of UK Woods & Trees report, showing that only 7% of UK woodland is in good ecological condition, leading to worrying UK nature depletion.
There is an urgent need to act now.?An increase in UK native trees will help to?minimise the pace and level of climate change and adapt to its unavoidable impacts as well as having a vital positive impact on UK nature.?
Contact [email protected] and find out how we can support your organisation’s ESG strategy and targets with UK nature-based solutions in partnership with the Woodland Trust.