Woodland Carbon Code Update

July 2015

Hello from the Woodland Carbon Code team!
 
Progress with WCC projects
The latest stats show that we now have 100 projects validated across the UK, including one in Northern Ireland meaning that we now have validated projects in England, Scotland, Wales AND Northern Ireland.  There’s another 99 projects registered and waiting to be validated and we look forward to assisting you with this next step of the process. Lookout for the next stats update on 14 July.
 
New Validation/Verification Body - Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas have joined the ranks as a body willing to validate/verify Woodland Carbon Code projects.  They are currently working towards accreditation. They join Acoura (formerly known as Scottish Food Qualify Certification) as a body able to Validate and Verify Woodland Carbon Code projects. Contact details are available for both.

Verified Woodland Carbon Units available by the end of 2015
During 2015 we have been piloting the 5-year verification process with the WCC-validated projects with most ‘mature’ woodlands.  This means that by the end of this year, we will have verified Woodland Carbon Units available for sale and to retire.

As a reminder:

• Defra’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines set out how Woodland Carbon Units can be used to compensate for gross emissions; and
• British Standards Institute’s PAS2060 sets out how Woodland Carbon Units can be used in claims of carbon neutrality.

Find out where to buy woodland carbon
If you are a potentially interested buyer of Woodland Carbon Units, we’ve developed a new ‘Buy Carbon’ section which sets out what you can buy, where you can buy from and why it might be of benefit your company.  There are also ‘case studies’ of companies who have already bought carbon from Woodland Carbon Code projects.
                                                                                       
State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2014
The annual State of the Forest Carbon Markets report is an interesting read; there’s useful analysis of who’s doing what and how the market is changing globally, as well as the usual ‘volume’ and ‘price’ figures. We picked out some useful facts:

• Globally, new woodland creation credits such as Woodland Carbon Units on average reach prices of $9.5/tCO2.  Forest credits of all types from Europe/Oceana in domestic schemes tend to attract higher prices than credits from elsewhere in the world at average $14.5/tCO2.  Globally, smaller projects attract higher prices than larger ones.
• The wider social and environmental benefits of a carbon reduction project are really important to buyers.  The Woodland Carbon Code provides assurance that projects meet minimum environmental and social standards by requiring compliance with the UK Forestry Standard – but woodland creation projects can provide a wide range of other benefits here in the UK.
• There are more project developers selling direct to corporate buyers and not using a carbon offset company as an intermediary.
• The market is developing and globally more buyers are waiting to buy verified credits (rather than pay upfront for carbon) as the world’s carbon forests grow and start to produce actual verified credits.
• Others are developing ways for very small projects to more efficiently be involved as well as ways to include trees interspersed with other land uses in one way or another – agroforestry or climate-smart agriculture.  We are also considering this and will work on options this year.

As usual please do contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss any woodland carbon matter.

Vicky and the Woodland Carbon Code team