Warning issued over processors and retailers ‘stealing’ farmers’ carbon credits

The union leader claimed there was huge potential for farmers to make money helping other industries to offset their carbon emissions, but unless primary producers took ownership of sequestration value, the benefits could be ‘stolen’ by other parts of the supply chain.

He said: “I have a really big worry that if we are not clever about putting a value on what carbon is, we will simply end up with other bits of our supply chain stealing our carbon credits.

“You will end up with processors and retailers claiming they are carbon-neutral because the cattle which go through their processing site or their retail site are grazing on land which is a carbon store.

“We have to make sure we have ownership of that carbon, of that credit and value, and that we can maximise it.”