UK Woodland Carbon Code governance

Woodland Carbon Code Secretariat

Executive Board

Advisory Board

Disputes Panel

Development of the code

Woodland Carbon Code Secretariat

The UK Woodland Carbon Code Secretariat function is provided by Scottish Forestry, on behalf of the Forestry Commission in England, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Forest Service. Before April 2019, it was managed by the Forestry Commission.

Scottish Forestry is the Scottish Government Agency responsible for forestry policy, support and regulation. 

Executive Board

This board is the executive body responsible for managing the day-to-day running of the code, including its application, promotion and strategic and technical development. It meets around six times per year.

Tasks include:

  • Annual review and update of the code
  • Interpretation of the code and its application, including dispute resolution
  • Design of the validation, monitoring and verification process
  • Support for the operation of the registry
  • Project validation/verification support and governance
  • Approval of validation/verification bodies
  • Capacity building, communication and promotion of the code
  • Periodic reports on the uptake of the code and a triannual evaluation
  • Establish sub-committees as necessary to deal with specific issues (e.g. communications)

Members:

  • Dr Pat Snowdon, Scottish Forestry (UK management team)
  • Dr Vicky West, Scottish Forestry (UK management team)
  • Andrew Baker, Scottish Forestry (UK management team)
  • Dr Mark Broadmeadow, Forestry Commission
  • Jamie Smith, Scottish Forestry
  • Fiona Hay, Welsh Government
  • Ben Searle, Northern Ireland Forest Service

View Executive Board minutes 

Advisory Board

Terms of reference

Role: The role of the Advisory Board is to advise the Executive Board on the application, promotion, revision and further development of the Woodland Carbon Code. It meets around four times per year or more frequently as required.


Scope: The board advises on:

  • Development and revision of the code and supporting tools and guidance
  • Interpretation of the code and its application
  • Validation, monitoring and verification processes
  • Communication and promotion of the code
  • Monitoring, research and evaluation
  • Market development

Impartiality and conflict of interest: Any potential conflicts of interest shall be stated by the members of the Advisory Board and the Woodland Carbon Code Secretariat will manage accordingly.

Chair and secretariat: The Woodland Carbon Code Secretariat at Scottish Forestry act as chair and provide secretariat services.

Members

Members are from a broad range of forest sector and carbon market stakeholders. Other experts can be asked to attend when necessary. Members of the board are appointed by the Woodland Carbon Code Executive Board and membership is reveiwed regularly.

  • Members of the Executive Board
  • Government
    • Defra, Julia Raybould
    • BEIS, Peter Coleman
  • Forestry representative bodies (representatives of each body will rotate 2-yearly from 2023)
    • Institute of Chartered Foresters, Robert South 
    • CONFOR, Stuart Goodall 
  • Landowner representative bodies (representatives of each body will rotate 2-yearly from 2023)
    • Country, Land and Business Association, Graham Clark
  • Academia/ research 
    • Forest Research, Ewan Mackie 
    • Edinburgh University Business School, Matthew Brander
  • Other standard-setters
    • UK Woodland Assurance Standard/Wilson Applied Consultancy, Peter Wilson
    • UK Peatland Code, Renée Kervliet-Hermans
    • Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, Nick Blyth
  • Validators/ verifiers
    • Soil Association, Andy Grundy 
    • Organic Farmers and Growers, Steve Clarkson 
  • Project developers (project developers serve a 2-year term on the Advisory Board)
    • Forest of Marston Vale Trust, James Russell
    • Scottish Woodlands Ltd, Emma Kerr
  • Buyers/ investors (Buyer/ investors serve a 2-year term on the Advisory Board)
    • End-user: Boston Consulting Group, Bruce Kennedy
    • Retail aggregator: South Pole, Areeb Arshad
    • Investor: Foresight Sustainable Forestry Company Plc and Foresight Group, Robert Guest

View Advisory Board minutes

Disputes Panel

The Disputes Panel deals with any disputes relating to interpretation of the standard. Any complaints relating to the conduct of Scottish Forestry staff members should follow our standard complaints procedure.

The panel consists of:

  • Peter Wilson (Chair of the Panel, Wilson Applied Consultancy, Advisory Board)
  • Andy Leitch (CONFOR, Advisory Board)
  • Dr Pat Snowdon (Scottish Forestry, Executive Board)
  • Dr Mark Broadmeadow (Forestry Commission, Executive Board)

If the appointed Advisory Board members have a conflict of interest concerning any case, then the Executive Board will appoint an alternative Advisory Board member. Voting is by majority. In the case of a split decision, the chair has the casting vote.

The panel meets as required and advises the Executive Board. If you have an issue to bring to the Disputes Panel, complete the Claimant Dispute Form and email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

The process followed is set out below.

  1. The Disputes Panel will invite the ‘claimant’ to make their case
  2. The Secretariat and/or the validator/ verifier will also provide information on the case
  3. The panel will consider all information and then share a draft response with the claimant for comment.
  4. The claimant will have a fixed time to comment.
  5. Any new information will be shared with the secretariat to ensure a common understanding of the issues.
  6. The panel will consider any further information and then formally respond.
  7. The Disputes Panel’s decision is final.

Development of the Code

We are still developing and improving the scheme.

Summary of main developments to date.

 2007 to 2011  Development, consultation and piloting
 2011  Launch of the code
 2012 to 2013  Piloting and launch of group scheme validation
 2013  Launch of UK Woodland Carbon Registry on Markit Registry
 2014  Listing of Pending Issuance Units for all projects
 2015  Small Woods Scheme pilot launched, verification pilot
 2015 to 2016  Piloting and launch of verification process
 2016  Year 5 verification process launched
2018 Launch of version 2 of the code
2020 Launch of the UK Land Carbon Registry - a joint registry for Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code projects
2021 Version 2.1 of the code
2022 Version 2.2 of the code - updates to additionality, registry/ avoidance of double counting and integration of the Woodland Benefits Tool

 

Contact Us

Please email us to find out more about the executive board, advisory board or disputes panel

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