Assessing the voluntary carbon offset market landscape in the UK

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) was set up as part of the Climate Change Act. The CCC is an independent body tasked with providing advice to Government on climate change issues, particularly the setting of carbon budgets, and the monitoring of progress towards meeting those budgets.

The Committee provided advice on the sixth carbon budget (setting a limit on UK emissions in the period 2033-2037) in 2020 and assessed UK progress in its annual Progress Report in June 2021.

The Committee on Climate Change's work in relation to offsets

In November 2020, the CCC published a brief on 'The role of business in delivering the UK's Net Zero ambition', which set out high level principles for how businesses should approach 'offsetting' and outlined suggested offset usage by each sector by decade, aligned to the Sixth Carbon Budget pathway.

In the 2021 Progress Report, the CCC identified business action as a key driver of progress in reaching net zero, and noted plans in future to help businesses make informed decision in line with Net Zero, and to track how corporate commitments are progressing in the UK.

Removals are a 'sector' considered within CCC analysis, including the Sixth Carbon Budget and Progress Reports.

The CCC's past reports are available here: http://www.theccc.org.uk/reports/.

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