Budget 2018 - Woodland Carbon Guarantee

We were delighted to hear in yesterday's budget that the government plans to support the UK forest carbon market with a £50m woodland carbon fund - designed to give more landowners the confidence that there will be a market for their carbon credits should they plant a woodland that they otherwise would not have planted. The idea had been floated at the Forestry Commission - developers of the the Woodland Carbon Code - some years ago and it is the work of Forest Carbon and the commitment of our partners that has convinced the Commission and its parent ministry - Defra - that the market can work, and that businesses are interested in supporting woodland creation as part of their CSR and carbon strategies.

The full details of the scheme are yet to be finalised, but we will be supporting Defra and the Treasury in its design. We do know that the £50m, initially at least, will be for carbon credits that will be delivered by new woodlands over the next 30 years. This is in line with the end of the current Climate Change Act commitment period (80% emissions reduction by 2050 over 1990 levels).

We'll keep you posted.