BP has bought a majority stake in the largest U.S. forest carbon offset developer, Finite Carbon, boosting the interest it acquired in the company last year, the supermajor aiming to become a net-zero business by 2050 said on Wednesday.
Last year, BP Ventures invested $5 million into Finite Resources, Inc, allowing its subsidiary Finite Carbon, to launch a voluntary carbon offsets program for businesses. BP's initial investment was aligned with its efforts to advocate for a price on carbon, the UK-based major said in October 2019.
Finite Carbon was set up in 2009 and has since become the largest developer of forest carbon offsets in North America with 50 projects on three million acres in the U.S. Finite Carbon is developing projects to help landowners to generate revenue from the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of forests. These actions increase carbon stored in forests and generate carbon offsets that are verified against industry-recognized standards and can be traded on markets, BP said in a statement.
"Thanks to this unique partnership with bp, Finite Carbon now has the resources of a global energy company behind it to help address this enormous environmental challenge and help small landowners access this market," Sean Carney, founder of Finite Carbon said.
"Finite Carbon's progression through bp - from venturing investment to majority ownership and introduction to Launchpad - is a great example of how we are applying our unique innovation ecosystem to foster innovation and build material energy businesses in support of our net zero ambition," said David Eyton, executive vice president of innovation and engineering at BP.
The supermajor, which has pledged to reduce its oil and gas production by 40 percent by 2030 as part of its net-zero strategy, recently recommended, together with many major Wall Street banks, that the U.S. set a price on carbon, in a report commissioned by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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