By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
Big Tech companies are increasingly locking in long-term sources of nature-based carbon removals. A new deal between carbon credit investment firm Rubicon Carbon, which helps businesses attain their sustainability goals, and software giant Microsoft highlights how that market is taking shape. Under this structured finance deal, Rubicon Carbon will deliver 2 million tons of carbon removal credits of the Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (ARR) variety to Microsoft over nine years, marking the inaugural transaction completed under a carbon removal framework developed jointly by the new partners.
Through 2035, these high-quality carbon credits are derived from Kijani Forestry’s groundbreaking Smallholder Farmer Forestry Project in northern Uganda, a trailblazing initiative among the first to gain approval under the country’s rigorous Climate Change Mechanisms Regulations. In addition to empowering local communities, this project sets a new standard for sustainable agroforestry investments in emerging markets.
The framework allows for the purchase of up to 18 million tons of high-quality carbon removal credits over time, with the early credits tied to this forestry project. Designed to bring greater structure to an often fragmented market, the approach is intended to expand access to long-term capital for carbon removal projects while simplifying how large buyers and project developers contract with one another.
Rubicon Carbon CEO Tom Montag stated, “This project demonstrates how structured finance can unlock scale in nature-based removals. By providing long-term capital to Kijani Forestry’s project, we’re helping deliver climate impact while expanding economic opportunities for the communities pivotal to building and preserving these ecosystems.”
Operating at scale in northern Uganda, Kijani Forestry has built one of the region’s largest forestry workforces, employing more than 600 people and partnering with over 50,000 smallholder farmers. The model centers on establishing woodlots on degraded land, with roughly 30 million trees planted to date in collaboration with local growers. According to the project, those plantings have the potential to materially lift household incomes on a per-acre basis, while creating earlier cash flow through carbon credit revenue, in some cases within the first year after planting.
Microsoft Director of Carbon Removal Phillip Goodman said, “We are pleased to support Kijani’s work in strengthening farmer livelihoods while restoring ecosystems in Northern Uganda. The framework with Rubicon Carbon streamlines the contracting process, while ensuring project quality and unlocking financing for nature-based removals.”
In practice, a structured finance framework gives project developers clearer revenue visibility over time, helping unlock capital and speed up the scale of nature-based carbon removals. The framework involves long-term, standardized agreements designed to support financing and expansion of carbon removal projects. By structuring future credit deliveries and pricing in advance, the approach helps carbon removal projects access capital and move to scale more quickly.
Kijani Forestry Co-Founder and CEO Quinn Neely commented, “Working with Rubicon Carbon enables us to reach more farmers, restore more land, and accelerate climate impact. This collaboration demonstrates what is possible when multi-year finance reaches communities on the frontlines of climate change.”
As a Big Tech company, Microsoft is no stranger to investing in carbon credits as part of its ambitious push toward carbon negativity by 2030. In early 2025, the tech giant signed a 25-year agreement with Chestnut Carbon, committing to purchase over 7 million tons of high-quality carbon removal credits from large-scale afforestation efforts across 60,000 acres of former farmland in the southern U.S., where native forests are being restored to boost biodiversity and soil health. This deal was underpinned by a $210 million financing round led by J.P. Morgan, highlighting Microsoft’s role in catalyzing innovative funding for voluntary carbon markets.
Building on this momentum, Microsoft has also inked partnerships with firms like EFM, securing up to 3 million nature-based carbon removal credits through a multi-year offtake deal. This partnership includes an initial batch of 700,000 credits from improved forestry practices on a vast 68,000-acre site in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, complemented by an investment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund into EFM’s $300 million portfolio for scaling climate-focused timberland projects across the U.S.
The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company Arc Network LLC is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and Arc Network LLC are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.