UK carbon credit market could create over 100,000 jobs and deliver £1bn in tax revenue by 2035
The UK’s carbon credit industry could generate an additional £1bn in tax revenue over the next decade, new research published by global carbon ratings agency BeZero Carbon reveals.
Its new paper, ‘From risk to reward: Making the UK the carbon markets capital of the world’, highlights the huge potential for the UK to become a leader in global carbon markets by 2035, as the government consults on the future of carbon and nature markets.
Based on BeZero’s demand projection, the report finds that the UK’s carbon credit industry could support around 135,000 high-skilled jobs within the next decade — nearly three times the number of jobs in the mining and quarrying sector.
Of these, 80,000 jobs could be in nature-based carbon projects, including ecologists, farmers, foresters, and rangers. A further 30,000 could work in engineered carbon removal projects like Direct Air Capture facilities, including engineers, construction workers, and plant managers. An additional 25,000 roles could be created in market infrastructure roles, working as analysts, brokers, scientists, insurers, lawyers, and consultants.
For the Treasury, this could mean around £1bn in additional income tax and national insurance — nearly 1.5 times the revenue from the digital services tax.
A market of this size could channel £10bn per year of private investment into high-impact international carbon projects and deliver benefits beyond carbon reduction, such as restoration of ecosystems and protection of human health. This is nearly equivalent to the UK government’s spend on international aid in 2024 of £11bn.
In terms of climate ambition, a market of this size would translate into the UK exceeding the Climate Change Committee’s target for domestic engineered carbon removals of 13 million tonnes within the next decade, and would see it achieve close to 20 million tonnes — the 2040 target five years earlier.
The report outlines four recommendations for the UK government to unlock the full potential of carbon markets, ahead of the close of its consultation in July:
Integrate removals into the UK ETS
Incentivise large UK businesses to adopt a carbon credit claims framework
Embed carbon ratings into market design to manage the risk of carbon credit under-performance
Introduce targeted regulation to unlock growth, including legal clarity on carbon credits and the regulation of carbon ratings agencies.
Tommy Ricketts, CEO and co-founder of BeZero Carbon, said: “The UK is a long-standing hub for carbon markets given its science, finance, and policy base. With careful regulations and decisive government guidance, it can be the global capital. Our report shows that a thriving carbon market in the UK could deliver 135,000 skilled jobs, £1bn in tax revenue, and £10bn a year into high-quality carbon projects, much of which for the global south. The prize of unlocking a long-term growth engine for the UK’s net zero economy requires political will and private-public coordination, similar to the vigour and cogency of Singapore. The good news is we are seeing this from the current UK government, but for the sake of the climate and the UK economy, there’s no time for delays.”
UK Climate Minister Kerry McCarthy said: “Carbon markets can deliver meaningful climate action and real, lasting change for the environment. We’re making sure these benefits are realised by leading global efforts to raise integrity in these markets.
“BeZero Carbon’s research shows that carbon markets can also support jobs and economic growth for the UK, while channelling the private finance needed to tackle the climate crisis and speed up the global clean energy transition through our Plan for Change.”