The rollout of fully certified schemes where companies can offset their greenhouse gas emissions by paying farmers to build soil carbon levels are at an early stage, a carbon credit trader has said.

Speaking at an online event, David McCulloch from the Carbon Store said that his firm was watching the development of the soil carbon credit market “very closely”.

“We have had some conversations regarding soil carbon.

“It is at very early stages. The rules and the regulations governing soil carbon are not as advanced as woodland,” he explained.

McCulloch specialises in trading carbon credits from landowners who are capturing carbon from the atmosphere through tree plantations.

A UK-government led scheme known as the Woodland Carbon Code is used to certify that the trees are being managed in a way that leads to permanent and measurable carbon capture.

McCulloch said that progress is also being made on a new peatland code, which will allow carbon credits to be issued for peatland restoration.

“We have a number of projects that we are looking closely at on that front,” he said.