Woodland Carbon Code Celebrates Second Year Of Achievement

6 AUGUST 2013NEWS RELEASE No: 16028 Woodland Carbon Code celebrates second year of achievement The Woodland Carbon Code, a voluntary UK standard which ensures that ‘carbon forestry’ projects really do achieve the carbon benefits they claim, has passed its second anniversary with an impressive number of achievements. Increasing numbers of people and organisations are seeking opportunities to invest in tree and woodland planting to help tackle climate change and compensate for their unavoidable carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Validation of such tree-planting projects under the Code ensures that they meet stringent requirements for sustainable woodland management and carbon accounting, and provides an assurance to investors. Achievements during the Code’s first two year of operation include: a total of 133 projects covering 14,200 hectares (35,000 acres) have been registered under the Code. (Registration is a notice of intention to seek validation); the amount of carbon dioxide predicted to be removed from the atmosphere by registered projects has passed 5 million tonnes; 42 of the 133 registered projects have completed audits and been independently validated as conforming to the standards of the Code, meaning that the carbon sequestration claims and other aspects of the project have been checked and confirmed; a scheme to allow groups of woodland projects to come together for validation has been successfully piloted and is now open to applicants, making the process more cost effective for smaller projects; the Code was recently launched on the Markit Environmental Registry, bringing enhanced accountability and transparency to the developing forest carbon market in the UK; and, an updated version of the Code has been published, addressing lessons learned from practical experience since the Code was launched in 2011. Dr Pat Snowdon, Head of the Economics and Climate Change Unit at the Forestry Commission, which administers the Code, said “It’s been another strong year of growth and achievement for the Woodland Carbon Code. It continues to offer credible assurance to investors that the woodlands they invest in will deliver the carbon dioxide emissions abatement ascribed to them, while also providing other environmental and social benefits. “Investing in woodland creation provides companies and individuals with a tangible means of demonstrating how they are reducing their carbon footprint. From October this year UK-quoted companies will be required to report their gross carbon dioxide emissions. The Government’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines also enable any company to report the benefits of its investment in carbon sequestration through Woodland Carbon Code-validated projects.” Further information is available at www.forestry.gov.uk/carboncode . NOTES TO EDITOR: Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the most common of the greenhouse gases causing the atmospheric warming which is changing Earth’s climate. Growing trees sequester, or absorb, CO 2 from the atmosphere, and use carbon atoms to form wood while emitting oxygen back to the atmosphere. Projects can only be validated under the Code if they meet its rigorous requirements for sound forest management, sustainability and carbon ‘accounting’. It was launched in 2011, and uses independent auditing companies approved by the UK Accreditation Service to audit project proposals. ‘Registration’ of a proposed planting project under the Code is the first step towards ‘validation’. Once registered, the proposal is audited against the standards set down by the Code, and if it satisfies the requirements it is ‘validated’. Projects must subsequently be ‘verified’ at least every 10 years to check that targets are being met. Validation provides evidence of the quality of the proposal, not only in carbon terms, but also in sustainable forest management terms, and is critical for attracting investors. Woodland established under the Code must attain high standards of forest management in line with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) and its supporting guideline on Climate Change. The UKFS sets out the government vision of sustainable forest management, and is the ‘yardstick’ used by all four governments in the UK when assessing applications for forestry grants, tree felling licences and approvals of forest design plans. See www.forestry.gov.uk/ukfs . The 5 million tonnes of CO 2 registered will be removed from the atmosphere over the next 100 years. The woodlands should actually sequester significantly more than this over their lifetime, but a proportion is set aside as a ‘buffer’ in case of future losses of woodland (and carbon) caused by wind, fire, pests or disease. CO 2 sequestered, or absorbed, by WCC-validated woodlands in the UK can be traded, and entry on the Markit Environment Registry enables changes of ownership of each tonne to be tracked. The registry also records when projects are registered and credits are listed, and when carbon units have been “used” by a company in its carbon account. See www.markit.com . About 13 per cent of the UK’s land area is covered by woodland, which is more than double the woodland cover of 100 years ago. The European Union average is 37 per cent. MEDIA CONTACT: Charlton Clark, 0131 314 6500 Taylor Scott International