What is the CLA CALM Calculator?

CALM stands for Carbon Accounting for Land Managers. CALM is a web-based calculator to help land managers work out the balance of greenhouse gases emitted by their farming business, and carbon stored in their trees and soil.

Click here to go to the CALM calculator

Carbon Accounting – why is it important

Climate change is not only a topical issue but one we expect to be of enduring concern for land managers for decades to come. Farming and forestry are on the frontline of climate change. They depend critically on the climate for the production of their outputs. Agriculture, land use change and forestry generate about 7 percent of UK Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Land-based businesses differ from most others by producing mainly nitrous oxide (from organic and non-organic fertilisers), methane (from livestock) and relatively small amounts of carbon dioxide (from fuel and electricity used by machinery and in buildings). Nitrous oxide and methane have a much stronger global warming effect than carbon dioxide. However, land management can remove CO2 by storing it in soil and trees. This is called carbon sequestration.

Understanding the carbon account of a business is a vital first step in thinking about climate change. Until the land manager knows the scale and source of his emissions he cannot constructively think about ways to reduce them and the extent to which he can offset them through carbon sequestration. This is part of the wider corporate and social responsibility (CSR) that many rural businesses are taking seriously now.

The CLA CALM Calculator has been produced by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) working closely with Savills, supported by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and with additional support from the Crown Estate.

What is the CLA CALM Calculator

CALM follows the most widely used, internationally agreed, accounting guidelines for government and businesses to understand, quantify and manage GHG emissions.

It measures the emissions and carbon sequestration that arise from a land management business. The emissions come from:

• energy and fuel use
• livestock
• cultivation and land use change
• the application of nitrogen fertilisers and lime

which are balanced against carbon sequestration in soil and trees.

Once the user has entered their data on these variables, CALM calculates the carbon balance. The user can then identify areas within the business where it may be possible to reduce emissions or improve carbon sequestration. Users are offered guidance on how to do this and thus improve the carbon balance of their business.

The calculator also offers users the opportunity to save their data. This enables progress to be tracked annually, or the recalculation of the carbon balance if the farming system is changed.

Confidentiality is guaranteed for all information entered.

What makes the CLA CALM Calculator distinctive

CALM is the first business-based calculator available online, showing the balance between annual emissions and carbon sequestration of the key GHGs associated with the activities of land-based businesses. This business-based approach for farms and estates is distinct from carbon footprint calculators devised for specific products which are often calculated on a life-cycle basis.

What can you do about your emissions

Before you can do anything about the GHG emissions of your business, it makes sense to measure what they are and see how they arise. The CLA CALM Calculator offers a way for farmers and other land managers to measure the emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from their farm/estate and any carbon which is sequestered (stored) in soil and trees. It also highlights opportunities to reduce these emissions.