Fundraising

The consortium is currently seeking financial support from public sector, corporate and private sources to develop a rigorous, well-tested and internationally-endorsed soil carbon code that will enable soil carbon markets to be scaled across the UK. This investment will pay for the critical research, drafting and consultation processes needed to get the code up and running, as outlined here.

Public Sector

In July 2021 the need for a Code was endorsed by the Environment Agency who awarded Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) SW funding for the development of the Code, and the piloting of its application in Gloucestershire under its ‘Investment Readiness Fund’.

While this investment will not cover all the research and stakeholder engagement needed to create a fully operational code, it is a clear demonstration of government support for the project and will be a catalyst for further public sector and grant applications.

Corporate

Through our investor engagement we are already collecting valuable insights about the expectations of different business interests in a Code and the applicable ‘carbon accounting’ purposes - offset registries, carbon insetters, carbon capture incentive schemes, ecosystem services and environmental investment products.

We will shortly be launching a targeted corporate fundraising to invite interested businesses, philanthropists, investors and others to support our work. Donors will have the opportunity to join an advisory panel to help guide the work, or a stakeholder reference group if they want to stay up to date with progress.

Private

The Code will have universal benefits because of the impact of increasing and maintaining carbon in our soils - on climate change, biodiversity and flood risk management. It will also benefit farmers by generating a novel source of income and giving them the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable agriculture and arresting environmental decline.

To demonstrate the widespread benefits the code will deliver, we have launched a crowdfunding page that will enable the general public to contribute to the Code development – with all contributions acknowledged in the text of the Code itself.

Work will begin in October 2021, and with adequate investment we will be able to fast-track the development of an operational Code and launch the UK Soil Carbon Code in early 2023.

For more information on the work that we will be undertaking to develop a soil carbon code, and the costs of that work, please contact Jenny Phelps (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Matthew Orman (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Mark Reed (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Get Involved

The SSA is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. We decided not to set up a charity because that would limit some activities such as campaigning on government policies. With a not-for-profit company the directors don’t benefit from profits and money raised is spent on company aims.

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