The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) recently had positive talks with Minister for Climate Change, Julie James MS, with tree planting and the purchase of Welsh land for the purpose of carbon offsetting by businesses from outside of Wales taking centre stage.
The FUW has received reports from members on almost a weekly basis of whole farms or parcels of land being bought up by individuals and businesses from outside of Wales for the purpose of tree planting in order to invest in the growing carbon market or offset their own emissions rather than seeking to reduce their carbon footprint in the first instance.
The Presidential Policy Team discussed the Union’s policy on carbon trading and was more recently agreed in a meeting of the FUW Council:
‘Whilst it is recognised that carbon credits could potentially become important income for some farms in the future, given:
- The sale of carbon credits from Welsh farmland risks undermining the ability of farms, Welsh agriculture or Wales as a whole to become carbon neutral
- The concerning rise in the sale of Welsh farmland to individuals and companies from outside Wales in order to create carbon for sale outside Wales or offset their own footprints
- The fact that in at least some instances such non-Welsh entities and individuals are being funded by Welsh Government to plant such areas
The Welsh Government and Senedd should take urgent action to tackle this issue through some form of control mechanism, and that while carbon quotas may not be the best way forward it is among a range of measures that should be considered in order to prevent growing adverse impacts for Welsh family farms, Welsh communities and Wales as a whole’
The current method of selling carbon risks undermining the ability of farms, Welsh agriculture or Wales as a whole in becoming carbon neutral if urgent action isn’t taken by the Welsh Government.
Nevertheless, the FUW welcomed Minister Julie James’ confirmation in the meeting that the Welsh Government was aware of and looking into this issue, and shared many of the FUW’s concerns.
Welsh Government’s response to a Senedd question by Plaid Cymru agriculture spokesperson Cefin Campbell revealed that between GWC application windows 8 (November 2019) and 10 (November 2020), the number of applicants with addresses outside Wales grew from 3% to 8%, confirming such concerns.
It was also revealed that between windows 8 (November 2019) and 9 (March 2020), the proportion of land accepted for the GWC grant following applications from outside Wales rose from 10% to 16%.
The figures also reveal that the average area of land planted with trees by GWC applicants from outside wales was 96 hectares during the last planting season, compared with an average area of 17 hectares planted by applicants with addresses within Wales.
Other matters including how to ensure that the right tree is planted for the right reason in the right place and the second home crisis were also discussed with the Minister.
The FUW looks forward to continuing such discussions with the Minister and Welsh Government to ensure that future policies on tree planting and carbon trading work for Welsh agriculture, Wales as a whole and reaching net zero targets.