Microsoft Doubles Down on Forest Carbon Credits With New 10-Year Deal

Microsoft has taken another big step in scaling nature-based carbon removals, inking a decade-long deal with Anew Climate and Aurora Sustainable Lands for 4.8 million tonnes of carbon removal credits. These will be generated through improved forest management (IFM) methods applied across vast U.S. forest areas.

Aerial image of a forest restoration site in New York, with lines of young trees stretching across the land. AI generated picture.

This new agreement builds on an earlier 2024 partnership between the same players, which resulted in Microsoft acquiring over 970,000 tonnes of IFM-based credits. It also follows the tech giant’s recent commitment to purchase 2.6 million tonnes of soil-based carbon credits from Agoro Carbon—part of its broader plan to reach carbon negativity by 2030.

‘We believe transparent and high-integrity nature-based carbon removal is important to meeting Microsoft’s Carbon Negative 2030 goal’, said Brian Marrs, Senior Director of Energy & Carbon Removal at Microsoft. ‘This agreement with Anew and Aurora reflects our commitment to advancing the integrity and impact of improved forest management.’

Aurora, backed by investors like Oak Hill Advisors, AB CarVal, EIG, and GenZero, operates as a joint venture with Anew. It acquires and manages industrially harvested forests, applying IFM techniques to maximise natural carbon storage. The firm currently owns over 1.7 million acres of U.S. forestland.

CEO Jamie Houston noted Aurora’s hands-on approach, describing how the company handles the full chain, from land ownership to credit issuance. Meanwhile, Anew markets the credits and manages the data side of things through its Epoch Evaluation Platform, a system that uses satellite imagery, drone surveillance, AI, and field monitoring to track performance and validate results.

The carbon credits from this agreement will help protect over 425,000 acres of forestland across New York, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Florida. The long-term goal: locking away CO₂ and maintaining forest integrity for decades to come.

With more corporations turning to natural strategies to meet their environmental goals, deals like this one underscore the growing demand for verifiable carbon removals rooted in ecosystem protection and data-driven monitoring.