Net Zero & Carbon Strategy
Many councils want to increase carbon storage across parks and public open spaces by improving soil health, changing grassland management or introducing deeper-rooted species. These interventions can support net zero ambitions, but the problem is that they do not automatically qualify for tradable carbon credits.
Carbon-credit schemes have complex and sometimes convoluted requirements which can be challenging when claiming credits for owned land because soil carbon is difficult to measure, site conditions vary, and project scale may be too small to justify registry and monitoring costs. That means a council may improve carbon storage across its estate but still be unable to issue formal carbon credits for sale.
Our Solutions
Green Pigeon works to find the most effective and efficient route for your space, helping you understand what your land can genuinely deliver and which carbon accounting mechanism is the best fit: mapping the opportunity site by site, testing the claim before it's made, and building an evidence base transparent enough for auditors, councils and residents alike.
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We use advanced spatial management technologies to map soil carbon, identify priority areas and target changes that can improve soil health, plant health and carbon storage across green-space portfolios.
This helps councils move from broad ambition to practical, location-specific action.
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We assess whether proposed changes are measurable, additional, durable and suitable for either carbon-credit assessment or internal reporting.
Where carbon-credit generation is unlikely, we help reframe the project around credible insetting, natural-capital value and wider environmental outcomes.
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Even where a project does not qualify for external carbon credits, the measured benefits can still be valuable. Councils can use robust soil-carbon and habitat data to support internal insetting, climate-action reporting and natural-capital accounting.
Instead of selling credits, a council can report credible sequestration from its own land as part of its wider net zero pathway, provided the assumptions, methodology and uncertainties are transparent. This approach aligns better with many local-authority needs because it focuses on evidence, accountability and long-term estate management rather than carbon-market compliance.
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We help develop transparent methods for recording baseline conditions, measuring change over time and explaining uncertainty clearly to officers, elected members, auditors and residents.
The result is a stronger foundation for climate-action plans, estate strategies and public reporting.
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With a robust methodology, a council could state that improved management of its parks and grasslands is estimated to sequester a defined amount of carbon each year and contributes to its wider net zero strategy.
The key is to present sequestration transparently and separately, rather than overstating it as a direct substitute for emissions reductions or as a verified carbon credit.
Let’s chat.
Not sure where to start? We’re here to help. Get in touch and a member of our team will get in touch to answer any questions.