Helping you reach Net Zero
The Climate Emergency and biodiversity crisis are two of this century’s greatest challenges. In response, Scotland has committed to reach Net Zero by 2045. Meeting this target will require efforts from individuals, organisations and businesses of every size.
Net Zero is a balance. Despite new cleaner technology, cutting emissions out completely is unfeasible. Net Zero is a state of balance which means an equivalent amount of emissions will be sequestered, as are emitted. The Scottish Government has committed to achieving a Net Zero society by 2045. This is five years ahead of the rest of the UK. Renewable energy can help to achieve this by providing energy with less emissions as can the planting of more trees which remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
The soils and plants that make up our landscape play a major role in capturing and storing carbon from the atmosphere. As Scotland's largest land manager, FLS is in a position to act on a large scale and make a big impact.
Two things we can do to help lock up more carbon for decades to come is to create more woodlands, and to restore eroding peat bogs across Scotland.
How it works
Carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere by trees as they grow. We can measure exactly how much new woodlands sequester through regular monitoring and checks over their lifetime. Planting more trees in the right places and helping trees regenerate naturally can also provide many benefits to wildlife and local communities.
About 1/5 of Scotland's land is made up of peatlands. These areas store a huge amount of carbon in their soils - 25 times more than all the trees and plants in the UK put together! However, when peatlands are damaged, they release this carbon back into the atmosphere. The vast majority of Scotland’s peatlands are eroding and need restoration work to reduce carbon emissions and protect these important habitats.
What is carbon offset?
Organisations working towards Net Zero need to reduce their emissions as much as possible, but there may be some persistent unavoidable emissions caused by their operations. Organisations can choose to offset these residual emissions by using a verified ‘carbon credit’.
The UK has two government-backed voluntary carbon standards: the Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code. These standards provide a framework for measuring and monitoring the carbon benefits of new woodlands and peatland restoration projects in the UK.
Every 5-10 years the progress of projects is independently verified, and a ‘carbon credit’ is issued for every tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent that has been successfully captured or avoided.
Eligible projects and their associated carbon benefits are publicly listed on the UK Land Carbon Registry.
How to get involved
FLS is developing a pipeline of woodland creation and peatland restoration projects on national land across Scotland. This includes:
- the transformation of derelict coalfields into accessible green spaces
- encouraging mosaics of natural regeneration across whole hills and glens
- planting native trees along rivers to improve freshwater habitats
- restoring eroded upland blanket bogs to their former glory
- creating new diverse and resilient forests that will provide the sustainable building materials of the future
Where eligible, these projects will deliver carbon credits over time as they are verified through the Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code.
We don’t currently have any carbon credits available for sale but you can check back here for updates, or email enquiries@forestryandland.gov.scot and ask to be added to the mailing list for carbon projects.
If your organisation or community would like to explore other ways of working together on nature-based projects we are open to ideas, so do get in touch.
Our climate actions
We're working across Scotland and throughout our organisation to mitigate the effects of the Climate Emergency
