The reality of the UK’s net zero ambition: the role of carbon capture

Corporates are a key contributor of these emissions and, under growing pressure from customers, shareholders and employees, are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. For some industries - this is challenging.

Achieving net zero by means of reduction measures alone is infeasible at this stage. Therefore, in parallel with the decarbonisation of their operations, businesses are looking to mitigate their climate impact in the shorter term by purchasing verified emission reductions (VER), otherwise known as carbon credits.

Woodland creation and peatland restoration will be at the forefront of land-based credit generation initially but neutralising the residual emissions from the FTSE 100’s top 10 companies alone would require a woodland four times the size of Birmingham to be planted each year!

Carbon credits must be used in conjunction with other climate mitigation strategies. However, if well-implemented and managed, verified emission reductions will help private finance to flow towards nature-based solutions (NbS) as our societies journey towards net zero.