1. Outline
This is a letter from Professor Piers Forster, Interim Chair of the CCC, to Minister Jones, Minister of State for Industry, in response to a request for advice on implementing the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to include nature-based removals such as woodland creation.
2. Key messages
- The Committee recommends that woodland creation is not added to the ETS. This is due to concerns regarding the permanence of biological removals, cost, and risk of divergence from the EU ETS which could make linkage between the two schemes more difficult.
- The Committee recognises the challenges faced in accelerating the rate of woodland creation, including financial constraints. However, alternative approaches to ETS inclusion should be considered to address this.
- Should the UK ETS Authority decide to include nature-based removals in the UK ETS then they should mitigate the issues outlined in this letter, for example, by the setting of a cap on allowances for woodland creation.
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