Insider Brief:
- Microsoft will buy 18 million tonnes of carbon credits from Rubicon Carbon.
- The agreement marks one of the largest-ever commitments by a single corporate buyer in the voluntary carbon market, Rubicon said.
- The deal will be structured as 15- to 20-year offtakes, supporting afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation projects worldwide.
PRESS RELEASE: Rubicon Carbon, a leading carbon credit management firm, today entered into a framework agreement with Microsoft to facilitate the purchase of 18 million tonnes of high-quality carbon removal credits – one of the largest single-buyer commitments of its kind in the world. Each carbon removal transaction under this deal will be structured as 15- to 20-year offtakes, supporting a pipeline of individual Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (ARR) projects worldwide.
A defining feature of this framework agreement is the scale of Microsoft’s work in this space. By anchoring long-term offtake agreements, this deal demonstrates the growing role of corporate buyers in unlocking private investment for high-integrity carbon projects that might otherwise lack funding.
“Addressing climate change requires more than good intentions—it requires capital deployment at scale,” said Tom Montag, CEO of Rubicon Carbon. “This collaboration serves as a blueprint for how the financial sector can meet the urgency of the moment while also generating strong financial returns. We aim to crowd in more capital by leveraging market-based mechanisms to scale societal impact at a planetary scale.”
“This agreement demonstrates how science, finance, and business model innovation can work in concert to scale affordable and high-quality climate solutions,” said Brian Marrs, Senior Director, Energy & Carbon Removal at Microsoft. “We believe that project finance needs to be central to the voluntary carbon market, and this deal signals the long-term demand for carbon removal necessary to mobilize infrastructure-grade investment and world-class execution.”
Through this collaboration, Rubicon Carbon has developed an evaluation framework with Microsoft that reflects Microsoft’s science and quality criteria while building upon Rubicon Carbon’s rigorous standards for carbon removal credit integrity. Rubicon Carbon will source, assess, and conduct advanced due diligence on ARR projects worldwide, prioritizing those with strong potential for scale but limited access to capital. Rubicon Carbon’s in-house science team will provide continuous quality assurance and monitoring, leveraging the latest remote-sensing technologies.
“We launched Rubicon Carbon three years ago to catalyze high-quality carbon projects at scale. This agreement with Microsoft represents an important milestone on our journey to deliver innovative, market-based solutions,” said Jim Coulter, Founding Partner of TPG and a Managing Partner of TPG Rise Climate.
