Environmental Market Integrity UK


The industry-led, government-backed environmental markets governance scheme providing independent oversight of environmental market integrity for the UK

The Environmental Markets Governance Scheme is being developed to strengthen trust and confidence in UK environmental markets.


Initiated through the UK Nature Markets Dialogue and developed through cross-sector collaboration, the Scheme will set clear rules to ensure integrity at each market stage, including how participants are registered, projects are developed, and environmental benefits are quantified, bought and sold.


Environmental market integrity requires robust standards, assurance and oversight.  The Environmental Markets Governance Scheme will provide the oversight, reinforcing existing and current work on standards and assurance.

Latest News

UK GOVERNMENT BACKS SCHEME DEVELOPMENT


On 26 October the UK Government announced that it is funding the Broadway Initiative to support the UK Nature Markets Dialogue to lead the development and establishment of the environmental markets governance scheme.


The Scheme will be developed and established over a two-year programme, with the first six months focused on extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation to inform its detailed design.  This will be followed by practical testing with market participants.


The Scheme is expected to launch in mid-2027.


The Environmental Markets Board will independently administer the scheme once it is operational.

Upcoming Scheme Development Activities

Register to participate in the development of the EMGS

Come and visit the Environmental Market Integrity UK stand at the upcoming Nature Finance UK Conference in London on  12 November 2026.


> Find out more

What is Environmental Market Integrity UK?

Environmental markets need a joined-up framework of standards, assurance and independent oversight to ensure the integrity of the environmental outcomes being delivered, and make participation easier, more certain, fair and cost-effective.


Environmental Market Integrity UK will establish independent oversight of environmental markets in the UK, including markets for biodiversity, nutrient mitigation and nature-based carbon, to ensure they are based on robust scientific evidence and have clear, enforceable rules that are applied in practice.


It will do this through three core Scheme functions:

  • scientific review and approval of methods used to measure and credit environmental benefits;
  • registration of participants for the nature market functions they carry out; and
  • compliance oversight, including action where the Market Rules are not met.


The Scheme will operationalise the BSI Nature Investment Standards by translating the principles into Market Rules for specific nature market functions.


Participants will be able to register for one or more of five core market functions:

  • project development;
  • benefit quantification;
  • credit generation;
  • market trading; and
  • project delivery.


Participation in the Scheme will be voluntary.  Scheme participants will agree to comply with the Market Rules that apply to their activities and have their compliance independently audited.


Continued participation in the Scheme, and the right to use the Scheme brandmark, will depend on ongoing compliance.


Environmental Market Integrity UK will form part of a coordinated approach to environmental market integrity, working alongside the BSI Nature Investment Standards, UKAS-accredited assurance arrangements and existing crediting methods, statutory requirements and assurance schemes.


Who will benefit?

The Scheme will make it easier to participate with confidence in UK environmental markets, with independent oversight, clear rules and transparency.

Landholders

Know what they are signing up to, and who they are dealing with

Nature projects can involve commitments lasting decades. The Scheme will set clear expectations for how projects are delivered and maintained over their lifetime. Registered developers, advisers and other intermediaries will be assessed as fit and proper, subject to independent audit, and required to be transparent about their fees before landholders enter into contracts.

Making it easier: Registered, vetted developers and advisers make it easier to choose who to work with, and clear upfront information on fees and obligations makes offers easier to compare.

Building confidence: Developers and advisers are independently audited, so landholders know who they’re dealing with before committing to long-term contracts.

Buyers

Confidence in what they are buying

Credits will represent real and additional environmental improvements, quantified using approved methods with a robust scientific basis and subject to independent review. They will be generated by registered participants that are independently audited.  This gives buyers a stronger basis for making credible claims and helps reduce the risk of greenwashing.

Making it easier: Buyers can rely on methodologies that have been approved by independent scientific experts instead of investigating every credit themselves.

Building confidence:  Independently verified credits reduce the risk of making claims they can’t stand behind.

Investors

Greater confidence in future revenue and a level playing field

Projects delivered and maintained to clear rules over their whole life, by registered and independently audited participants, give investors greater confidence that expected credits will be generated and trusted by buyers. Common rules across markets also make projects easier to compare on a consistent basis, reducing the need for bespoke due diligence and making it easier to invest at scale.

Making it easier: Common rules across markets make projects easier to compare and reduce the need for bespoke due diligence.

Building confidence: Lifetime, contracted delivery requirements and audited participants lower the risk of projects underdelivering.

Government

Confidence that markets can deliver policy outcomes

As part of the UK’s wider framework for environmental market integrity, the Scheme will help government have greater confidence that environmental markets are operating effectively and contributing to policy outcomes. It will also provide consistent, published market information and evidence to support oversight and inform future policy.

Making it easier: A single, consistent framework and published market information make markets easier to oversee.

Building confidence: Clear, approved methodologies ensure on-ground delivery is contributing to policy goals.

Why is it being developed?

The UK Nature Markets Dialogue found there is no universally agreed UK mechanism for:

  • approving the methods used to quantify and credit environmental benefits
  • overseeing the market, by turning agreed principles into enforceable rules, including for registries
  • checking that participants meet the criteria for taking part
  • aligning market activity with land use strategies and environmental goals.


The Scheme is being designed to fill these gaps.

Development timeline

The Scheme will be designed with the people who will use it, building on the work of the UK Nature Markets Dialogue since March 2024.


Development and preparation (October 2026 to April 2027): stakeholder engagement and consultation on the detailed design of the Scheme, development of the Market Rules and the approach to scientific review of methods, and preparation for initial operation.


Initial operation (June 2027 to November 2028): registration will open from mid-2027, followed by 18 months of operation with registered participants. This period will provide practical evidence on how the Scheme works, including its registration, audit and compliance arrangements, the value it provides to participants and buyers, and the requirements for a sustainable long-term model.


Review and recommendations (December 2028 to February 2029): evidence from the initial period of operation will be reviewed and used to make recommendations on how the Scheme should develop beyond the Defra-funded programme.

Get involved

Stakeholder input will be central to the development of Environmental Markets Governance Scheme.


Register to participate in the development of the Scheme [LINK].


MORE DETAILS COMING SOON ...


Respond to the market rules consultation have your say about the draft market rules.

Test the Scheme with us - when participant registration opens in mid 2027.