Winners of the ‘Sustainable Consultancy’ of the Year award

Awarded by Sustainability Magazine at the Sustainability Live Awards, this accolade highlights the hard work of a fantastic team.

Founder, Stephen Prior, accepts the Sustainable Consultancy award on behalf of Forest Carbon. Over his career, Steve has played a key role in developing the WCC and the IUCN PC, legitimising the UK’s voluntary carbon market and ensuring it adheres to high-quality standards.

“Forest Carbon has been serving nature since 2006 when we pioneered the idea of carbon-financed woodland in the UK and kickstarted its voluntary carbon market. Since then, this market (with our help) has established two government-endorsed and ISO-certified standards, the Woodland Carbon Code and the Peatland Code. They have delivered 81,926 ha of new woodland and 33,822 ha of peatland restoration (covering an estimated 34 million tCO2e), plus a host of other co-benefits including biodiversity uplift, rural jobs, and a roadmap for emerging nature markets. We were responsible for 4% of all woodland creation in the UK between 2006 - 2022 (Forest Research and IHS Markit), and 9% of the projects in the Peatland Code’s validation pipeline in June 2024 (UK Peatland Code Registry). All this with a team of just 8 dedicated people!” 

In early September, Forest Carbon was awarded the ‘Sustainable Consultancy’ of the Year award by Sustainability Magazine at the Global Sustainability & ESG Awards 2024. It was awarded for:

• Demonstrating exceptional sustainability expertise

• Developing innovative strategies and solutions which have had a positive impact on our industry

• Walking the walk by applying sustainability principles to how we work

Standout achievements over our 18 years of operating include planting 275 new woodlands (13 million trees) and restoring 5 peatlands, becoming an employee-owned business in 2023, and playing a key role in the development of both of the Codes. 

We are also incredibly proud of the team, past and present. Daniela was recently promoted to Project Manager; George is leading a group of our peers to influence change via a ‘Nature Project Developers Association’; James was awarded an OBE. 

Forest Carbon alumni are also doing some amazing things; Madeleine went on to explore the feasibility of blue carbon finance for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Kenya. Mattew joined Nattergal, the nature restoration company run by rewilding and financing experts, Carolina went on to support the Energy Savings Trust, and Zennor sits in the projects team at Maya, unlocking capital for overseas climate projects.  

Every member of the Forest Carbon team over the past 18 years has contributed to the winning of this award, but more importantly to the work we’re doing every day to support nature’s recovery. 

True to Forest Carbon’s style, when asked to advise fellow sustainability consultancies off the back of winning the award, Steve said: “Just get on with it and do it!”

So much achieved, but so much left to do!