Chestnut Carbon Signs 15-Year Carbon Credit Offtake Agreement With Microsoft

Chestnut Carbon, a nature-based carbon removal developer founded by private investment firm Kimmeridge Energy Management Company, LLC, today announced that it has entered into a multi-year offtake agreement to provide Microsoft with high-quality, nature-based carbon removal derived entirely from a novel afforestation project based in the United States.

This is the largest afforestation project certified under the Gold Standard to date, and a testament to the scalability of high-quality nature-based solutions. Through a first-of-its-kind 15-year offtake agreement for nature-based credits, Chestnut will deliver 362,000 tons of projected carbon removal from its Sustainable Restoration Project Phase I and up to 2.7 million tons in aggregate across subsequent phases. Chestnut’s differentiated focus on positive impact, verifiability and execution aligns with Microsoft’s criteria for high-quality carbon removals.

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Chestnut is growing its capacity to 500,000 acres and 100 million tons of carbon removal in order to meet the increasing demand for high-quality, cost-effective carbon removal solutions by corporations and governments across the globe.

Key features of Chestnut’s Sustainable Restoration Project:

• Chestnut carbon removal credits are additional, verified and certified to the highest standards – meeting the rigorous requirements of Gold Standard, the premier crediting standard for carbon projects.
• Chestnut stands behind the durability of its carbon sequestration through long-term conservation of the land, planting biodiversity and risk mitigation practices.
• Broader environmental and stakeholder benefits include enhancing ecological systems, bolstering local communities, improving air and water quality and restoring natural habitats to their original state.

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“We’re pleased to be working with Microsoft on its commendable journey to offset emissions through high-quality nature-based solutions. When launching Chestnut in 2022, we were guided by a strong belief that these solutions are the most attractive, scalable and cost-effective means for sustainability-minded organizations. We are actively building out our platform to meet demand from the most discerning customers and look forward to announcing additional blue-chip partnerships in the near future,” said Ben Dell, CEO of Chestnut and Managing Partner of Kimmeridge.

“Microsoft’s 15-year purchase agreement with Chestnut Carbon for afforestation-based carbon removal credits is a positive step towards Microsoft’s carbon negative goals. We are excited to collaborate with Chestnut and its Sustainable Restoration Project for high-quality, nature-based solutions located in the United States,” said Brian Marrs, Senior Director of Energy & Carbon Removal at Microsoft.