Woodland Carbon Code statistics
Conversion of Pending Issuance Units to Woodland Carbon Units
Annual statistics
You can view official annual statistics about the Woodland Carbon Code up to 31 March 2023 in Forest Research’s forestry statistics 2023 publication.
Statistics from earlier years are also available.
Interim statistics
Our interim statistics provide data on Woodland Carbon Code projects up to 31 March 2024.
Number of projects on UK Land Carbon Registry
| Number of projects | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Under development |
697 | 208 | 497 | 128 | 1,530 |
| Validated only | 102 | 39 | 344 | 9 | 494 |
| Verified at year 5 | 46 | 7 | 73 | 1 | 127 |
| Total validated | 148 | 46 | 417 | 10 | 621 |
| All projects | 845 | 254 | 914 | 138 | 2,151 |
Projects can be validated/verified individually or as part of a group. This table shows the number of projects validated or verified, whether they were administered individually or as part of a group.
Area of projects on UK Land Carbon Registry
| Area (hectares) | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Under development |
7,840 | 2,249 | 36,945 | 865 | 47,899 |
| Validated only | 2,237 | 865 | 26,070 | 91 | 29,263 |
| Verified at year 5 | 697 | 145 | 3,915 | 9 | 4,765 |
| Total validated | 2,933 | 1,009 | 29,985 | 100 | 34,028 |
| All projects | 10,774 | 3,259 | 66,929 | 965 | 81,926 |
Projected carbon sequestration of projects
| Projected sequestration (million tCO2e) | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Under development |
3.2 | 0.8 | 11.4 | 0.4 | 15.7 |
| Validated only | 1.0 | 0.3 | 7.9 | 0.04 | 9.3 |
| Verified at year 5 | 0.4 | 0.07 | 1.6 | 0.003 | 2.1 |
| Total validated | 1.3 | 0.4 | 9.6 | 0.04 | 11.3 |
| All projects | 4.5 | 1.1 | 20.9 | 0.4 | 27.0 |
These figures include both the carbon units which can be sold and those which are allocated to the buffer.
Size of validated and verified projects, number of projects by country
Species mix of validated and verified projects, by area and country
In Scotland, conifers include native Scots Pine, frequently planted as part of native woodlands.
Management of validated and verified projects, by area and country
CCF is continuous cover forestry.
Map of projects, by status
Number of Woodland Carbon Units available on UK Land Carbon Registry
| Available for sale | Already sold | Landowners 'growing their own' units | Retired Woodland Carbon Units | Buffer units | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pending Issuance Units |
4,678,000 | 3,342,000 | 91,000 | -- | 2,072,000 | 10,183,000 |
| Woodland Carbon Units | 800 | 3,500 | 1,100 | 4,600 | 2,300 | 12,300 |
- 1 Carbon Unit = 1 tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent
- Available for sale - units for sale by a project developer or retail aggregator
- Already sold - units which have been transferred from a project developer to a corporate buyer’s account or have been assigned to a corporate buyer (if Pending Issuance Units)
- Landowners growing their own units - units owned by organisations planning to use them against emissions within their own company/organisational boundaries (insetting)
- Retired Woodland Carbon Units - verified credits which are 'retired' or taken out of use by the final user
- Buffer units - units which are put aside and stored in a shared buffer pool in case of any future loss of Woodland Carbon Units
- Pending Issuance Units - validated units of carbon dioxide equivalent which are projected to be delivered/sequestered in future.
- Woodland Carbon Units - verified units of actual sequestered carbon dioxide equivalent.
Conversion of Pending Issuance Units to Woodland Carbon Units
Woodlands validated to the Woodland Carbon Code will sequester carbon dioxide over the next 100 years.
The chart below shows the projected annual conversion rate of Pending Issuance Units to Woodland Carbon Units over that period (black line) and the cumulative sequestration of validated projects over that time (bars).
As more projects are validated, more units will be available and the conversion rate will increase. Verified Woodland Carbon Units and buffer units are not included on the chart.
