“Understanding your Natural Capital is the key to unlocking environmental income.”
Within Environmental Solutions, our biggest strength is the direct connection we have to our own farmers on the ground. The day-to-day feedback and business decision making is first-hand data, meaning we are always at the forefront of what is happening on the land and the challenges rural businesses are faced with. This enables our team to offer you a unique and practical service.
Woodland and Peatland carbon codes are well developed, and we can guide you through the process of entering into these agreements.
There are currently opportunities to receive payments for reducing emissions and sequestering carbon. The market currently shows a large range in offered carbon sale values, opportunity for sequestration and length of agreement, to name a few.
We can offer advice using experience gained through research and on farm trials, bringing clarity to decision making when exploring Carbon Offsetting.
Services we offer in this area are:
- Tailored farm Carbon Audit.
- Carbon Reduction Strategy.
- Monetisation Advice.
Carbon FAQs
What is the minimum/maximum time commitment of a carbon payment scheme?
Of the schemes currently available the minimum commitment can range from no hard commitment to 25 years. Higher payments per tC02e are proposed in the longer-term schemes.
Can I receive multiple payments for different actions on the same piece of land?
Although payments for different actions can be achievable on the same piece of land, carbon payments rely on ‘additionality’ to make a worthwhile difference. This means when receiving payment for an action in one payment scheme you are unlikely to receive funding for the same action from another private payment scheme.
This also means you will likely be required to make a change from current practice to command a payment.
Carbon prices are likely to increase, should I wait to enter into an agreement?
This will vary depending upon the terms of each agreement on offer, it would not be advisable to enter into an agreement now where the carbon price is set for the whole agreement.
If I enter into an agreement now, will I restrict myself from selling carbon in the future?
You are less likely to restrict yourself so long as you don’t sell your carbon forwards, a lot of those entering the woodland carbon code sell a proportion of the carbon up front in order to recoup some of the capital expenditure for the trees.
You may however, in the future, be considered unsuitable for meeting additionality requirements if you would like to be considered for a different agreement down the line.
Can I enter into a carbon scheme alongside the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)?
Different offers have differing opinions on this. We would advise it is very unlikely you could receive carbon payments funded by private organisations as well as SFI payments. This position could change as the SFI scheme changes throughout the pilot.
What data will be used to generate carbon credits/certificated for sale?
Some schemes are based upon a reduction in emissions and potential sequestration, these require:
- Tillage Practice (No, Min, Conventional)
- Cover Cropping Practice (Yes/No)
- Historic Land Changes (Permanent Grassland to Arable etc.)
- Annual Crop Inputs
- Annual Machinery Operations (Fertiliser, Sprays, Manure)
- Residue Management (Straw Baled/Chopped etc)
- Soil Characteristics
- Latest Soil Sample for Organic Matter Reading
Schemes that pay you for the carbon physically sequestered in your soil will require periodic (2-5 years) soil sampling at 2/3 depths in your soil to base your payments on.
What is the difference between carbon credits and carbon certificates?
Carbon certificates do not give the purchasing company the “right to pollute” so cannot be used to “offset pollution” in other industries. Carbon certificates are purchased by companies who want to encourage decarbonisation. This could be targeted within a specific supply chain or region.
To receive payments the landowner will have to create habitation for a species that is being disrupted by development elsewhere. For a full offset the habitats created will have to provide for 10% more value than the habitats being disrupted. This will depend on factors such as distance from development location, quality of habitat, ease of implementation and the time it takes for the habitat to mature.
Conducting an environmental appraisal will enable us to advise any suitable opportunities there may be available to receive payment for habitat creation now and in the future. If you would like to register your interest in unlocking this income potential, please contact the team below.
Each member of the team can offer an initial assessment demonstrating the viability of a scheme being implemented on your land. This factors in the financial and environmental benefits to your business, whilst addressing individual business needs and goals.
Correct use of the options is critical and when used within a crop rotation prove very effective.
When tailoring a new scheme, the team will provide you with:
- An initial Viability Assessment.
- Discussion and advice on suitable options for your business.
- Provision of quality mapping to support an application and ongoing management.
- Creation of an application including all supporting evidence needed.
- Communication with relevant authorities enabling relevant changes and permissions.
- Submission of an application.
Sentry Environmental Appraisals can be used to aid setting the long-term direction of a business. Proposing potential new income streams through environmental works at a national level and giving greater detail of what is required to engage in schemes pertinent to the business being appraised.
The appraisal will feature three key aspects:
- Environmental Resource Analysis.
- Discussion of Wider Opportunities.
- Client Specific Proposals.
A range of tools will be used to paint a picture of the environmental opportunities available to you now and in the future.
After an initial meeting and discussion at your holding, the client specific proposals will be formulated after further research and can include subject areas you would like us to investigate specifically.
If you are interested to learn more about how our new environmental assessments can be used to tap into extra private and government funded schemes, please get in touch. These reports also serve as a good baseline in readiness to support future ELMS.
It is very likely The Environment Bill will impose mandatory requirements for developers to demonstrate a minimum 10% net gain over a proposed site. If this 10% uplift in environmental benefit cannot be achieved on site, we can facilitate sourcing a donor site to meet your needs.
Having set a net zero or carbon neutral target, we can work alongside your business to develop changes to farming systems that comply with accredited schemes, enabling the offsetting of scope 1,2 and 3 emissions and accomplishment of your environmental goals.
We offer a carbon reduction strategy service targeted at a whole business or the length of a specific supply chain
As a business we realise that the farms we manage and systems we implement are a far greater asset than land masses purely used for food production. Our managed landscapes provide a scope of habitats for a diverse range of species.
Being so close to nature farms also offer lots of opportunities for tertiary sector businesses to engage with and improve the environment. Sentry believe there is huge scope to work with businesses to meet a broad range of corporate social responsibility targets at a mutual benefit to both parties.
If you would like to explore in more depth the possibility of utilising the assets of our farming businesses to support your corporate social responsibility and sustainability goals, please contact Oscar Smith for more information.
