AN environmental consultancy near York is a contender for a global climate change award.

Future Food Solutions, near Holme on Spalding Moor, has been nominated for a Climate Challenge Cup award for its sustainable futures carbon bank.

The venture empowers UK farmers to sequester measurable amounts of carbon into the soil via a range of techniques, including growing cover crops between food crop rotations.

This increases soil health and soil organic matter, reversing soil degradation and restoring its health, and provides farmers with revenue through selling carbon credits.

The Climate Challenge Cup will be judged on November 10 in the COP26 Green Zone and streamed live to a global audience.

One carbon credit is the equivalent of one metric tonne of carbon dioxide being removed from the atmosphere. The scheme is underpinned by rigorous testing to ensure every tonne of soil carbon can be detected, verified and certified before it is converted.

The carbon bank came about as a result of a partnership between Future Food Solutions and BCarbon Inc, an American not-for-profit organisation at the Rice University, Texas.

Through the exclusive deal, Future Food Solutions works with UK farmers to sequester carbon, which is then verified and certified by BCarbon to be sold as carbon credits.

The initiative aims to remove 10,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the first year, increasing as the scheme is opened up to farmers across the UK from 2022.

Steve Cann, director of Future Food Solutions, said: “This nomination recognises the years of hard work we have put into helping farmers farm in more sustainable ways.

“It also recognises the fact that farming can play a leading role in climate change mitigation on a global scale. Farming doesn’t have to be part of the problem; it can be part of the solution.

“As we transition to a post-Basic Payment Scheme world, and with future support payments being based more on environmental stewardship, it is a win-win for farmers and the planet.”

As well as sequestering carbon, growing cover crops produces a range of other environmental benefits including enhanced biodiversity, particularly pollinators.