Record Carbon Credit Retirements Across the Energy Sector, Powered by Nature

Three major European energy companies reported record carbon credit activity in 2025, with nature-based solutions (NbS) playing a central role in each case. The disclosures—published in annual ESG and sustainability reports by Eni, TotalEnergies, and Engie—collectively illustrate a shift toward long-term, large-scale credit procurement strategies in the energy sector.

Newly planted tree saplings in the foreground with wind turbines behind. AI generated picture.

Eni's voluntary carbon credit retirements reached 7 million tCO₂e in 2025, up 19% from 5.9 million tCO₂e in each of the two preceding years. All credits were registered on Verra and sourced from nature-based projects, predominantly forest protection alongside cookstoves programmes.

The retirements supported Eni's upstream Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction target, which the company exceeded: net upstream emissions fell 68% against the 2018 baseline, to 4.7 million tCO₂e, against a 65% target. A subsidiary, Plenitude, retired 3.2 million tCO₂e of those credits to address Scope 3 emissions linked to natural gas sales in Italy.

TotalEnergies expanded its carbon credit book by 4.2 million tonnes in 2025, bringing its total portfolio to 17.9 million tCO₂e. Annual expenditure on credits reached a record $73 million—implying an average price of around $17.38 per tonne on credits accumulated during the year.

The French major is targeting a 50-million-tonne portfolio by the start of 2030, requiring roughly 8 million tonnes of additional purchases per year over the next four years. Projects span forestry, regenerative agriculture, and wetlands protection, and are verified under Verra, the American Carbon Registry, and Australia's National Registry of Emissions Units. The company has committed a cumulative budget of $650 million to its carbon portfolio over the projects' lifespan.

TotalEnergies also used its annual report to question whether the pace of the global energy transition is sufficient to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050, signalling an expectation that its own pathway may require ongoing revision.

Engie's carbon credit retirements climbed to 76,252 tCO₂e in 2025 from just 1,721 tCO₂e in 2024. The increase followed four long-term supply agreements signed during the year, including two afforestation and reforestation programmes—covering more than 200 small-scale projects across France and the United Kingdom—developed with the Shared Wood Company.

The programmes are certified under France's Label Bas Carbone scheme and the UK's Woodland Carbon Code. Engie plans to continue retiring nature-based credits through 2030, before transitioning toward carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies, including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), as it targets net zero by 2045.

The combined picture from all three companies points to growing institutional appetite for NbS credits—driven by long-cycle emissions profiles, tightening internal targets, and a preference for verified, registry-backed supply. The shift toward multi-year contracts, visible in Engie's procurement model and TotalEnergies' portfolio-building approach, suggests that spot purchasing is giving way to more structured strategies.

Demand from the energy sector is expected to remain a significant factor in voluntary carbon market dynamics through the decade.