A Carbon Revolution In The English Countryside

• Published date: 30 January 2023
• Subject Matter: Government, Public Sector, Energy and Natural Resources, Energy Law, Government Contracts, Procurement & PPP, Renewables
• Law Firm: Withers LLP
• Author: Mr Edward Jarron, Bertie Hoskyns-Abrahall, David M. Holland and Roberta Crivellaro

Blenheim Palace is one of the largest stately homes in England. With its Baroque style of architecture, gilded State Rooms, yew-tree maze and formal gardens landscaped by "Capability" Brown, the house has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. But it is best known as the birthplace and ancestral seat of Sir Winston Churchill, the "greatest Briton".

Today, the wartime leader's family are hopeful that the heritage property and its 12,000-acre estate will inspire the nation in the face of another global crisis: climate change.

"Carbon is a huge issue on the agenda at the moment. Everyone is thinking about it, what the solution might be and whether they can be part of it," says Ed Jarron, a partner in Withers' real estate team who works with many country estates.

The Blenheim Estate is leading the way, with an ambitious land strategy that aims to create the first carbon-negative estate. With support from the Withers team, its leaders have agreed ground-breaking partnerships with both public and private investment, managing almost 1,700 acres of grassland to support wildflowers, setting aside some 150 acres of arable land for farmland birds, and planting more than 250,000 trees on land which is unsuitable for food production.

The Blenheim Estate is leading the way, with an ambitious land strategy that aims to create the first carbon-negative estate.

According to Ed, smaller-scale conservation projects are springing up across the UK. "Each piece of land has its own nuances, but right now one very popular activity that individuals, estates and investors are jumping on is planting trees."

Clients' motivations for tree-planting vary. The Castle Howard estate, another well-known heritage property represented by Withers, planted 15,000 in 2022 as part of its woodland management plans. The firm's real estate team also helped a philanthropist to establish the Heart of England forest, a tree-planting project covering 30,000 acres of woodland. Meanwhile, several financial services clients are gambling that the cost of carbon will rise significantly.

"The UK government has effectively underpinned the carbon market through the Woodland Carbon Code, which is one of several new measures announced since Brexit," explains Bertie Hoskyns-Abrahall, a partner who leads Withers' landed estates team.

"In simple terms, they have promised to buy carbon from landowners who plant trees, presumably hoping to kickstart a market where private entities will pay more. And there...