For any voluntary carbon mar-ket to operate smoothly, aI degree of governance and regulation is essential. Without this, as we sadly sometimes see in other countries, carbon offsetting (and the projects it finances) can become something of a 'wild west'. Happily this is not the case in the UK, but that is because our domestic market has its very own safeguard in the 'Woodland Carbon Code'.Technically, the 'Woodland Carbon Code' (WCC) is a type of carbon standard, one of many in operation worldwide, and analogous to those managed by organisations like Verra and Gold Standard. The code can be thought of as a rulebook, with jurisdiction overany woodland carbon projects in the UK that wish to supply legitimate carbon credits to the market. Every project developed under the 'Woodland Carbon Code' has had to meet certain criteria in order to be validated, and this provides transparency and assurance to buyers of carbon, just as the FSC and PEFC do for timber (and non-timber forest) products in their respective markets.
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