Natural assets such as woodlands, grasslands, wetlands and other green spaces play an important role in capturing and storing carbon. As local authorities increasingly seek to understand and report the contribution of these assets to their climate ambitions, a consistent and evidence-based approach is essential.
Following adoption of the Welsh LGA Land and Carbon sequestration and Storage Guidance, the Hertfordshire Climate Change and Sustainability Partnership sought to develop similar credible standards to support English authorities in assessing and reporting carbon sequestration from their green assets.
The HCCSP Green Asset Sequestration Standards for Local Authorities provide a practical methodology for estimating and reporting carbon sequestration in a transparent and consistent way.
For an understanding of the methodology taken please refer to the Green Asset Sequestration Tool for Local Authorities and for further guidance of use please refer to the Green Asset Sequestration Framework and Template July 2025.
Notes on application
At present, the scope of these sequestration standards is for Local Authorities own operational carbon emission reporting and planning. The standards should not be expected to apply to businesses or other sectors without separate consideration.
The framework is not intended to promote carbon sequestration as a primary emissions reduction measure. However, where local authorities wish to include carbon sequestration within their reporting, the standards provide a robust and consistent set of principles and criteria to support this work.
Please note that Hertfordshire Local Authorities will be referred as “LAs” in this document. On similar note, the use of carbon measurement will refer to greenhouse gas or carbon dioxide equivalent measurement in the document.