The Environment Agency has reviewed the evidence behind 17 different carbon offsetting approaches which included mainly nature-based solutions and a smaller number of built environment approaches:
- Woodland creation
- Upland peat restoration
- Biochar
- Hedges and trees outside of woodlands
- Household insulation
- Household low carbon heating
- Soils management: pasture
- Soils management: arable
- Enhanced weathering
- Lowland peat restoration
- Floodplain restoration
- Saltmarsh restoration
- Grassland
- Seagrass restoration
- Kelp restoration
- Constructed wetland
- Other built environment measures (e.g. renewable electricity consumption, reducing water consumption)
The Agency found that:
- all the approaches reviewed have strengths and weaknesses in offsetting carbon emissions
- to achieve true net zero, only carbon offsetting projects that remove GHGs can be used
- there are currently only 2 accredited carbon offsetting standards in the UK – the Woodland Carbon Code and the Peatland Code
- some of the approaches remove GHGs from the atmosphere, others reduce the rate of GHG emissions, and some progress from reductions to removals over time
- different offsetting approaches remove GHGs from the atmosphere at different rates and they scored differently across the implementation factors
The report concludes that only carbon offsetting projects that remove GHG emissions will be compatible with true net zero emissions. This is where GHGs emitted into the atmosphere are balanced through equal removals of GHG emissions from the atmosphere.
Read more and download the report here.
European Commission report
A new handbook aims to provide practitioners with a comprehensive Nature-based Solutions (NBS) impact assessment framework, and a robust set of indicators and methodologies to assess impacts of NBS across 12 societal challenges: Climate Resilience; Water Management; Natural and Climate Hazards; Green Space Management; Biodiversity; Air Quality; Place Regeneration; Knowledge and Social Capacity Building for Sustainable Urban Transformation; Participatory Planning and Governance; Social Justice and Social Cohesion; Health and Well-being; New Economic Opportunities and Green Jobs. The accompanying Appendix of Methods provides a brief description of each indicator and recommends appropriate methods to measure specific impacts, along with guidance for end-users about the appropriateness, advantages and drawbacks of each method in different local contexts.
The handbook has the objectives of: Serving as a reference for relevant EU policies and activities; Orienting urban practitioners in developing robust impact evaluation frameworks for NBS at different scales; Providing a comprehensive set of indicators and methodologies and build the European evidence base regarding NBS impacts.
The handbook is the result of a unique collaborative effort of 17 EU-funded Horizon 2020 NBS projects and collaborating institutions such as the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), as part of the European Taskforce for NBS Impact Assessment.
Read more and download the report here.