fbpx
Get In Touch
Heritage and Conservation

Funding boost for woodland to tackle climate change

The government has launched a new £50 million Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme to encourage farmers and landowners to plant more trees and help tackle climate change.
It gives land managers in England long-term financial income to invest in carbon sequestration – the process by which trees lock up and store carbon from the atmosphere.
Successful participants will be offered the option to sell Woodland Carbon Units to the government over 35 years at a guaranteed price set by auction, providing new income for land managers who help businesses compensate for their carbon emissions.
To apply for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee, you can register projects with the Woodland Carbon Code – the voluntary standard for UK woodland creation projects where claims are made about the carbon dioxide they sequester.
The guaranteed price for your CO₂ is agreed with the government through an online reverse auction. A series of auctions will take place every six months for up to five years, beginning in early 2020. Before bidding you will need to calculate how much money you need (per tonne of CO₂) in order to make your project financially viable and worthwhile.
If you are successful in the auction, the government will buy the CO₂ for the price that you bid – which is protected against inflation for the life of the contract.
The Guarantee application can be made alongside applications for woodland creation grants, for example, Countryside Stewardship, the Woodland Carbon Fund or the HS2 Woodland Fund, provided that any other contracts were signed after October 29, 2018.
For more information contact your local Berrys office or Charlotte Rogerson at the Shrewsbury office of Berrys on 01743 290642 email charlotte.rogerson@berrys.uk.com