Woodland Carbon Guarantee
Guaranteed income for verified Woodland Carbon Units in England
The Government in England launched the Woodland Carbon Guarantee in 2019 to support woodland creation and develop the domestic market for woodland carbon.
With a total budget of £50 million, it is a great opportunity for landowners considering creating woodland in England over the next few years. Successful applicants will benefit from a guaranteed income on delivery of verified Woodland Carbon Units every five or ten years up to 2055/56. The price is agreed through an auction.
To access the guarantee, woodlands must be validated and verified to the Woodland Carbon Code.
Applicants who are offered a contract to sell to government can still sell their credits on the open market if the timing or price is better.
Auction dates
The eighth Woodland Carbon Guarantee auction was held in September 2024, with three successful bids covering 12.4 hectares of woodland.
The guarantee is currently closed to new applications. To stay up to date, register for the Forestry Commission e-alert.
To take part, you needed to have:
- Registered with the Woodland Carbon Code
- Applied to the Woodland Carbon Guarantee by 11.59pm on Friday 6 September 2024
You can't enter an auction if work has started on site.
If you were unsuccessful in a previous auction and would like to enter again, 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 two weeks to open one and register your project with the Woodland Carbon Code and the guarantee. Please allow enough time ahead of any auction deadline.
- Existing project developers can add your project to their account which will be much quicker.
- Read the guide to the eighth auction.
Note: You can apply to sell Woodland Carbon Units to government alongside applying for grant (for example the England Woodland Creation Offer, Woodland Carbon Fund or HS2 Woodland Fund) as long as you haven't started to plant your woodland yet. You also need to meet all the eligibility criteria of the Woodland Carbon Code, including additionality.
Results of previous auctions
Here are the auction results to date.
| Total bids |
Successful bids/ contracts offered | Area of successful bids (ha) | Average price of successful bids (weighted by number of woodland carbon units) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Auction 1: 2020 |
31 | 18 | 182 | £24.11 |
| Auction 2: 2020 | 77 | 27 | 1,517 | £19.71 |
| Auction 3: 2020 | 46 | 31 | 620 | £17.31 |
| Auction 4: 2021 | 23 | 19 | 331 | £18.62 |
| Auction 5: 2022 | 16 | 15 | 99 | £23.70 |
| Auction 6: 2022 | 9 | 9 | 59 | £22.61 |
| Auction 7: 2023 | 2 | 2 | 19 | £19.76 |
| Auction 8: 2024 | 3 | 3 | 12.4 | £25.00 |
Case studies:
- Find out about Webbs Farm (Essex) and Lackford Estate (Suffolk) who were successful in the February 2020 auction.
- Read about the Mair family who, through Brown and Co as project developer, were successful in the first auction.
You can get further advice on the Woodland Carbon Guarantee or help completing the application form from the Forestry Commission by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
