Global Comparison of Existing Soil Carbon Codes Using a Structured Analytical Framework, 2021-2022

An analytical framework for the systematic comparison of existing soil carbon codes, which could be applied to the analysis of codes in other land uses and habitats. The data includes an application of the framework to identify commonalities and differences in methods, projects, administration and commercialisation and associated code documents for 12 publicly available codes from the UK, France, Australia, USA and international bodies.

The development of the UK Soil & Farm Carbon (SFCC) code has the potential to unlock carbon investments for building soil organic matter and ecological recovery of soils, which will deliver multiple benefits as outline in the 25-Year Environment Plan and aid economic recovery post covid. Our pilot proposal will generate immediate and long-term carbon offset opportunities for farming businesses to monetise the carbon sequestration by catalysing the development of standards for the code's development in line with the Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code. We will test and demonstrate the sale of carbon offsets generated from a popular restorative farming practice: planting herbal leys (diverse mixes of grasses, legume and herbs) into arable and suitable pasture land across 20 farms in Gloucestershire (farm holdings totaling 10,000Has). The initial pilot will focus on 100 Has expected to improve soil organic carbon stocks by 300 tonnes per year creating a total carbon conservative offset value of £60,000 over 10 years. We will evaluate existing carbon removal market protocols and compare for suitability for soil carbon projects and value to UK farmers. Our findings will be published to support future soil carbon offset projects and used to transact with investors.

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