The UK Carbon Code (UKCCC) is being established in response to the growing desire for UK individuals and companies to invest in UK projects to capture and sequester CO2, to regenerate biodiversity and to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. Often, a dynamic solution will offer many co benefits that the UKCCC will measure, verify and recognise assuming strict criteria are met. The UKCC will refer to all accredited and pre accredited projects as Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plus (GGR+) projects.
Designed to match the aspirations of customers with the dynamic solutions offered by UK based entrepreneurial greenhouse gas offsetting and reduction companies, the UKCCC will be flexible in that it will consider accrediting any type of project as long as it delivers tangible, measurable and permanent carbon sequestration. Only UK projects will be eligible.
Watch this space to see how the code develops.
All UKCCC Credits will be real, derived from UK projects and can be seen, touched and felt by its customers and for projects to be considered high quality, UKCCC carbon credits and meet the UKCCC standards they have to adhere to the following overriding principles and requirements:
1. Real – Each carbon credit legitimately measures at least one tonne of CO2 equivalent and is based on a credible and conservative baseline.
2. Measurable – Carbon credits are calculated based on robust scientific data using accurate quantification methods and are expressed in quantitative terms, using standardized GHG metrics. Use recognised, peer reviewed metrics to estimate baseline levels and project soil organic matter stocks and increases thereof.
3. Additional – Carbon credits represent emission reductions or removals that would not have
otherwise occurred without the added incentive resulting from the carbon market. In other words, adhering to this quality criterion would mean that project baselines are set to represent the “business as usual scenario,” should represent no more than the emissions that would have occurred in the absence of the market incentive, and should not include emission reductions that are intended to be achieved with other policies and measures.
4. Permanent – Carbon credits represent emission reductions or removals that will not be reversed after the issuance of that unit. Proper provisions are in place to both minimize that risk and account for reversals if they should occur, such as using a buffer pool of credits to replace reversed emission reductions and removals, or temporary units.
5. Avoid leakage – The generation of carbon credits will not lead to an increase in emissions elsewhere, or safeguards must be in place to monitor and mitigate any increase that occurs (e.g.,leakage deductions from the emissions reductions measured).
6. Monitored, reported, and verified – The underlying emissions reductions of carbon credits are monitored and reported and verified by a credible third-party verification system every 5 years of a credits life.
7. Comply with social and environmental safeguards – The generation of carbon credits will not
violate laws, regulations, or treaties, or result in social or environmental grievances.
8. Meet at least 5 UN Sustainable development goals with each project meeting SDG No 13 as a pre-requisite.
9. Be open and transparent.
10. Stakeholder inclusivity, all parties involved with a project are protected from negative consequences.
11. Safeguarding, only positive land use change and only move to greater overall productivity, no permanent loss of crop land for carbon crop options.
12. All soil organic carbon projects last a minimum of 25 years
