Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in formulating rules for the natural capital markets, farmers and landowners will be permitted to ‘stack’ trades, that is to sell credits in different markets from the same operation; if so, whether carbon credits will be included in the stacking system; and, if not, what effect they expect that to have on the viability of new broad-leaved woodland as compared with coniferous plantations.

The Government is committed to supporting farmers and other land managers to access revenue streams for ecosystem services, including carbon, from their land. As set out in the Nature Markets Framework, published in March this year, it is currently possible to ‘stack’ credits for different ecosystem services from the same land, in limited circumstances. Defra is funding research to enable consideration of whether a broader range of opportunities for stacking could be permitted in future without risking the environmental integrity of credits.