Buying carbon credits: how it works

Trusted sellers of high-quality carbon credits from the UK and further afield.

Navigating the voluntary carbon market can be challenging, especially when determining which types of carbon credits align best with your strategic objectives and can be trusted. 

With nearly two decades of experience in nature-based solutions, we've assisted 180+ partners in navigating this landscape – helping them to purchase high-quality carbon credits that support the UK’s (and the world's) woodlands and peatlands. You’re in the right place!

By asking questions like:

  • Do you need to be able to make net zero claims soon?

  • What co-benefits (flood management, community involvement, biodiversity uplift, etc.) are most important to you?

  • What level of risk are you willing to accept vs what price can you pay?

  • Is it important to you that the projects you support are near HQ?

  • What business values should this investment align with?

We will guide you, from the very first conversation that you have with us, towards high-quality, strategy-aligned nature projects that grow with your corporate climate action, and do a lot of good along the way.

Note: we endorse science-based best practices for abatement, and encourage Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM). To learn more about these terms, head to our FAQs.

Building a portfolio of woodlands and peatlands

Our portfolio is made up of woodland and peatland projects in the UK and further afield. The right one(s) for you will depend on your strategic requirements. For example, UK projects typically offer ex-ante credits which represent ownership of future carbon savings (e.g. sequestration from trees in 50 years).

These credits cannot be used for carbon offsetting, net zero, or carbon neutrality claims until they become ex-post credits. So if that’s what you need right now, you’ll likely have to blend in credits from international projects that have been around long enough to deliver verified emissions reduction credits (‘ex-post’ credits).

We will work together to design a bespoke portfolio (which can be made up of just one project, or many projects) that works for you.

Graph showing carbon accumulated over a woodland's lifetime

Benefits beyond carbon

Woodland creation and peatland restoration deliver quantifiable carbon removal and avoidance, respectively. They also deliver a host of other (currently) unquantified benefits. 

The co-benefits of woodland creation and peatland restoration:

  • Biodiversity uplift: Our woodlands and peatlands will restore and rejuvenate habitats to support the increase and variety of flora and fauna in the area. 

  • Community involvement: Members of the surrounding community might share in a project’s benefits through job and skills creation.

  • Public access to green spaces: Our projects are often accessible to the public, providing people with more access to green spaces. Getting out into nature has a wealth of health and wellbeing benefits.

  • Flood mitigation: Our projects can help to reduce the risk and impact of flooding by slowing flow rates, storing water and preventing soil/peat erosion.

  • Animal shelter: Woodlands can provide animals like deer, sheep, and cattle with protection from harsh weather.

  • Habitat corridors and linkage: Our projects link habitats previously separated by productive land or land less hospitable to wildlife.

  • Improved water quality: By absorbing and/or filtering water, our projects help to improve water quality in the surrounding areas.

  • Habitat conservation: Our projects protect and increase the habitats of keystone and endangered species.

  • Diversified income for land managers/farmers: Through the sale of carbon, our projects diversify existing agricultural revenue streams.

Quality assured

All of our projects adhere to one of the leading global or UK accreditation standards, following robust and rigorous procedures:

  • An independent audit is carried out by bodies accredited under the relevant standard

  • Carbon savings estimates are conservative, scientifically sound, project-specific, and buffered 

  • All projects meet social, environmental and legal requirements, including community involvement

  • Additionality, permanence and MRV (measurement, verification and reporting) is assured

  • UKAS accredits UK standards and methodologies (Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code) to ISO 14064/5

But with Forest Carbon, you get an added level of assurance. 

Often, the projects we will help you purchase credits from are ones we have been involved in delivering ourselves. In the UK we work directly with land managers, helping them to plan their woodland and peatland projects, to get them validated through the Woodland Carbon Code or Peatland Code, and to connect them with buyers like yourselves. When we say our projects are ‘Forest Carbon assured’, it’s because we’ve played a direct role in getting them into the ground.

How we work

With 55 years in the industry between us, we know there’s no such thing as one size fits all. Every carbon purchase or nature investment is slightly different. However, this gives you a rough idea of what to expect from us after you get in touch.

1. Initial contact



Once you get in touch, a member of our team will reach out via email with some starter information about how the Voluntary Carbon Market works. 

The more information you give us about what you’re looking for, the more specific our response will be.

2. Information sharing and gathering

Once we’ve mutually established that Forest Carbon is the right fit for your organisation, we will arrange an introductory call.

Here we dig down into your objectives, values and timeframe. It’s also an opportunity for you to ask more questions and gather more information to take back to your team.

3. Securing buy-in

We’ll work with you to educate decision-makers about the tricky and complex world of claims, VCM principles and risk management.

This is typically done via calls with our experts, but we can also exchange emails or supply explainer documents.

4. Designing a right-fit nature portfolio

With buy-in secured, we will set to work designing a project portfolio that aligns with your brand, your risk appetite and your ESG strategy. 

This is a collaborative effort between us and will include guidance on messaging and communications,  to help you craft unique stories and eliminate reputational risk

5. Ongoing partnership

The purchase of your portfolio is not the end of our partnership; our relationship will grow over time. 

We will remain on hand to support you with guidance about your nature investments, to keep you updated on how our woodlands and peatlands are progressing, and to market the successes to our audiences. 


Ready to speak with one of the Forest Carbon team? 

Get in touch.

Alternatively, you can browse our available projects to get a better feel for the types of projects you could support.