The UK Climate Change Committee, which was established in 2008 to advise the UK on emissions targets and report on progress towards those targets, recently published a report showing that despite a significant reduction in emissions in 2023, the country is not on track to hit its targets. The UK, which is committed to reaching net zero by 2050, is working with the committee to monitor progress.

Despite the dire headlines, the committee clarifies that the UK’s emissions are now less than half the levels they were in 1990, largely thanks to the phase out of coal and ramping up of renewables, but that’s just the start. The report recognises that public funding isn’t enough and that private finance will be required to meet these ambitious targets.

According to Palladium’s Tom Gegg, part of the answer lies in carbon offsets, but only alongside clearer guidance from governments around the claims that companies can make. “Clearer guidance will help drive integrity in the carbon market, which in turn will create demand and bring in more private finance,” he says

Perhaps most importantly, the report calls for an urgent increase in tree planting and peatland restoration as one of ten priority actions (the target is to plant 30,000 hectares of trees per year by 2025 and restore 32,000 hectares of peat per year by 2026).

As Gegg explains, because there’s a time lag between planting a tree and its ability to sequester large volumes of CO2, large numbers of trees need to be planted in the 2020s to make the required contribution to achieving the UK’s future carbon budgets and Net Zero targets.

Gegg couldn’t agree more with this recommendation, and points to ‘Revere’ as an answer. “Revere is our partnership with the UK National Parks, and we have a market-ready solution to unlock private finance for tree planting.”

Revere, which works across the UK’s 15 National Parks to restore nature at scale from new sources of funding has built a portfolio of more than pilot 15 projects, developed a UK-wide pipeline of nearly 38,000 hectares, unlocked finance from companies such as Santander UK and Estee Lauder Companies UK & Ireland, and secured a sector-leading £70 million offtake deal with Respira.

More than Trees

Gegg cites fresh research from Small World Consulting, which finds that National Parks could play an enormous role in helping the UK to meet its goals, calling the UK National Parks a ‘superpower’ with the potential to become ‘landscape-scale’ carbon sinks.

That potential is at the heart of Revere’s work, says Gegg. “We can help harness the vital role of the UK’s National Park landscapes and unlock the finance needed to drive tree planting at the pace and scale required.”

“And of course, our projects also deliver benefits for biodiversity, create jobs and livelihoods, and ultimately help tackle the climate emergency.”

As the UK welcomes a new government, both the UK Climate Change Committee and the Revere team are hopeful that the government will respond to the report recommendations in a concerted effort towards meeting the country’s goals. “The new Government has an opportunity to course-correct, but it will need to be done as a matter of urgency to make up for lost time,” notes Piers Forster, interim Chair of the Climate Change Committee. “They are off to a good start. Action needs to extend beyond electricity, with rapid progress needed on electric cars, heat pumps, and tree planting.”

But as team members from Palladium have noted in the past, solving the climate emergency will take more than planting trees.

“So, while Revere’s platform offers up a solution for the UK’s carbon net zero and biodiversity targets,” says Gegg. “It also holds the key to unlocking the private finance needed to transform landscapes at scale for the long-term, creating livelihood opportunities for communities across the diverse working landscapes of the UK’s National Parks and beyond.”

Learn more about Revere or contact info@thepalladiumgroup.com for more.