Woodland Carbon Guarantee
Guaranteed income for delivery of verified Woodland Carbon Units in England over the next 30 years.
The Government in England launched the Woodland Carbon Guarantee in November 2019. It supports woodland creation in England by spending £50m over 30 years to purchase Woodland Carbon Units.
This is a great opportunity for landowners considering creating woodland in England over the next few years. Successful applicants will benefit from a guaranteed income upon delivery of verified Woodland Carbon Units every 5 or 10 years up to 2055/56. The price will be agreed through an auction. Accessing the guarantee will require the woodland to be validated and verified to the Woodland Carbon Code.
Applicants offered a contract to sell to government are still free to sell their credits on the open market if the timing or price is more advantageous.
There have been three auctions so far. Here's the results of the auctions to date. The third auction featured a new design whereby 75% of the available budget was ring-fenced for 'predominantly native woodland' projects.
| Total bids |
Successful bids/ contracts offered | Area successful bids | Ave price successful bids | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
First auction - Jan/Feb 2020 |
31 | 18 | 182ha | £24.11 |
| Second auction - June 2020 | 77 | 27 | 1,517ha | £19.71 |
| Third auction - October 2020 | 46 | 31 | 620ha | £17.31 |
Fourth Auction - 26 July - 1 August
The Fourth auction takes place 26 July - 1 August 2021. Applications for the fourth auction are now closed, but you can still Register with the Woodland Carbon Code and apply to the Woodland Carbon Guarantee for the next auction.
If you were unsuccessful in a previous auction and would like to enter again, just email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to confirm. You don't need to complete the guarantee application form again.
- If you don't have an account on the UK Land Carbon Registry, it could take up to 2 weeks to open an account, and register your project with the WCC and the Guarantee. Please allow sufficient time ahead of any auction deadline.
- Existing project developers can add your project to their account and this will be much quicker.
- Read The 'Guide to the fourth auction'
Note that you can apply for the option to sell Woodland Carbon Units to government alongside applying for grant (for example the Countryside Stewardship, Woodland Carbon Fund or HS2 Woodland Fund) provided you haven't yet started to plant your woodland. You also need to meet all the eligiblity criteria of the Woodland Carbon Code, including additionality.
CASE STUDY: Read about the Mair family, who through Brown and Co as project developer, were successful in the first auction.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any queries.
Woodland Carbon Guarantee in England
Guaranteed income for delivery of verified Woodland Carbon Units in England over the next 30 years.
January 2019
The autumn budget statement announced that the government will set up a Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme which will support the planting of around 10 million trees in England by spending £50m over 30 years to purchase Woodland Carbon Units.
This is a great opportunity for landowners considering creating woodland in England over the next few years. Successful applicants will benefit from a guaranteed income upon delivery of verified Woodland Carbon Units over the next 3 decades. Accessing the guarantee will require the woodland to be validated and verified to the Woodland Carbon Code.
The Woodland Carbon Guarantee is due to open in summer 2019 and in the spring we will be asking for stakeholder input to help us create and implement the most effective scheme to really stimulate the woodland carbon market in the UK. If you have already applied for a woodland creation grant or intend to plant new woodland this winter, please note the following eligibility rules will apply;
New applications after 29/10/2018 and those in progress for Countryside Stewardship, the Woodland Carbon Fund or the HS2 Woodland Fund will be eligible to apply for the Carbon Guarantee;
Where an agreement offer has been signed prior to 29/10/18 (the date of the Autumn budget statement) the site will not be eligible to apply for the Carbon Guarantee;
The guarantee will not be available where planting has commenced or the project had registered with the Woodland Carbon Code before 29/10/2018.
Eligibility to apply for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee does not imply or confirm that Woodland Carbon Code additionality requirements will be met.
Do Contact Us if you have any queries.
