Carbon Offset Projects in the UK
The UK Carbon Association reviews and promotes carbon offset projects based in the UK.
UK Carbon Association Approved Carbon Offset Projects
The UK Carbon Association approves carbon offset projects which meet our criteria for scheme design, governance, transparency and reporting.
Our assurance aims to provide companies and consumers with comfort that they are supporting well designed initiatives. Along with most voluntary schemes, the carbon credits from these schemes are not classified as CDMs and cannot be traded on carbon credit exchanges.
Overview
Tradable Voluntary Offset Projects
There are two types of voluntary schemes in the UK which are permissible for trading of the carbon credits produced, these are:
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Woodland Carbon Code projects: maintained by the Woodland Carbon Code, including a registry of all schemes which are under review or have been validated and approved.
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Peatland Code projects: maintained by the IUCN UK Peatland programme, dedicated to protecting and preserving peatland.
Please note: in accordance with guidelines following the 1997 Kyoto treaty, for a company to meet its mandatory Certified Emission Reductions (CER), it can only purchase carbon credits from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects operated in developing countries. Companies choosing to offset voluntarily, can do so using non-CDM schemes in the UK.
Assessment Criteria
The assessment criteria for the approval of carbon offset schemes by the UK Carbon Association is based upon the Code of Best Practice set out by ICROA - the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance. For an Offset Project in the UK to qualify as a UK Carbon Association Approved scheme it must be:
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Real
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Measurable
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Permanent
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Additional
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Independently Verified
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Unique
Further details are available in the Code of Best Practice for Carbon Management Services', ICROA (2020).​
Before applying, please ensure that your project doesn't already qualify for the Woodland Carbon Code or Peatland Restoration. Please review the WCC website for further details.
