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Community-owned energy projects are viewed as compelling contributors towards renewable energy targets. They contribute to curtailing the use of carbon intensive energy sources, consequently aiding mitigation of climate change, and can contribute towards a sustainable, localised economy. The success and expansion of the sector varies. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the development of the sector between sub-state nations. This qualitative, comparative study looks at the sector in the sub-state, devolved nations of Wales and Scotland within the UK. Through a series of in-depth interviews with community energy practitioners in four case study sites in Scotland and Wales, this study shows how policy and governance practices can influence the sector and those working at grassroots level. The study shows a disparity in confidence and outlook for the sector, based on the perceived (in)effective governance in each devolved nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Timing of ecosystem restoration can influence its resilience to climate change. • This study quantifies the opportunity cost of delaying restoration-based GHG mitigation. • Delaying mitigation substantially decreases the economic benefits of peatland restoration. • Climate change beliefs explain variation in benefits of increased peatland resilience. • Results provide economic arguments for early investments in nature-based solutions. Ecosystem restoration and, in particular, peatland restoration, are considered a promising greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategy to move towards net zero emissions. To remain within acceptable limits for projected warming scenarios, inaction with respect to GHG mitigation in the short term implies a need for even larger removals of GHGs in the longer term, which can be conceptualized as a 'mitigation debt'. This paper explores the economic implications of delaying GHG mitigation through ecosystem restoration using data of a large survey (N = 1377) that included a choice experiment to elicit the public's willingness to pay (WTP) for peatland restoration in Scotland, UK. The valuation specifically considers the interaction between the timing of restoration action and long-term ecosystem resilience. We find that respondents have a substantial WTP for peatland restoration. Importantly, we find considerable benefits for early restoration action (up to £191 million annually in our case study), which is linked to an increased resilience of peatlands under future climate change. This demonstrates that delaying restoration and thus accumulating a mitigation debt has an important opportunity cost that substantially decreases the related economic benefits. Attitudes towards climate change and climate change beliefs are found to explain variation in the public's WTP. Our research strengthens the economic argument for not delaying climate change mitigation through ecosystem restoration, demonstrating that the mitigation debt also translates into a welfare loss. To fully realise the potential benefits associated with immediate mitigation using peatland restoration, however, more needs to be understood about the mechanisms that facilitate large-scale implementation in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal managed realignment has the potential to deliver both nature conservation and other benefits to people, but these are rarely quantified. We used an ecosystem services assessment toolkit, TESSA, at two locations in the UK; Hesketh Outmarsh West (northwest England), where realignment has already been carried out, and the Inner Firth of Forth (central Scotland), where realignment is proposed for multiple sites. At the Inner Forth we focus on one site, Inch of Ferryton, in Clackmannanshire but also assess ecosystem services across several sites. Using dedicated data collection where possible, and site-appropriate existing data, we estimate the value of these sites to people in the realigned state compared with the most realistic alternative: continued agricultural production behind hard flood defences (agricultural state). Services assessed were climate change mitigation, agricultural production, nature-based recreation, and flood risk protection. At both sites agricultural production was estimated to be greater in the agricultural state, while other services were estimated to be greater in the realigned state. We are cautious about assigning overall monetary values based on biophysical attributes, particularly considering that climate change mitigation is highly sensitive to carbon prices, and that by necessity we were unable to quantify all services. Nevertheless, using a price for carbon that incorporates the societal cost of emissions, we estimate that the net annual provision of services is £262,935 (£1460.75/ha) at Hesketh Outmarsh West and £93,216 (£574.70/ha) at Inch of Ferryton. At both sites, sequestered carbon in accreting sediments outweighs greenhouse gas emissions from intertidal habitats, and the net value of this in turn outweighs the income foregone from crops and grazing. At Hesketh Outmarsh West the value of ecosystem services is increased by the reduction to flood risk arising from the coastal managed realignment action. Nature-based recreation is estimated to increase at both sites under realignment, with the visitor profile expected to be strongly local. Decisions about coastal management, including realignment, should incorporate information about the ecosystem services provided under different scenarios. This applies beyond coastal ecosystems, and the site-scale is often the most appropriate scale to carry out such assessments, as this is the scale at which decisions are often taken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The twin pressures of climate change and biodiversity loss mean that it is imperative to manage land in ways that benefit carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. We focus on a set of UK habitats of recognised conservation value, first quantifying the carbon stored in the vegetation and top 30 cm of soil in these areas. We estimate that these areas store 0.55 gigatonnes of carbon in vegetation and soil to a depth of 30 cm, approximately 30% of the UK terrestrial carbon store to a similar depth, on 20% of the land area. Most of these high carbon, high conservation value habitats are in upland areas, with particularly notable extents and mass of carbon in Scotland. In their current condition, we estimate these areas to exert a net sequestration effect of more than 8 million tonnes of CO 2 equivalents per year. Furthermore, restoration of these habitats from their current, generally poor condition could result in an extra 6–7 million tonnes of CO 2 equivalents per year, in the context of the UK's total emissions of 455.9 million tonnes CO 2eq in 2017. Restoration of degraded bogs would avoid significant annual emissions (currently negating significant sequestration by woodlands and coastal habitats) and should be a particular priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]