Recommendation 8

While we acknowledge and respect the fact that environmental and planning policy are devolved competencies, we strongly encourage the Welsh Government to reassess whether it currently has sufficiently strong safeguards in place for its tree planting schemes. In particular, we draw their attention to the Woodland Trust’s call for a requirement that companies investing in carbon woodland offsets have a substantial and credible emission reductions programme in place and are not using offsetting schemes to avoid reducing emissions. Furthermore, we call on the Welsh and UK governments to improve the transparency and regulation of carbon offset schemes which in effect create a change of land use. For example, greater transparency may be achieved by the creation of a register of carbon offset schemes so that the extent of this problem can be monitored.