February’s headlines: Insights from CRCF, new CCP credits, and Lego’s $2.4M investment in CDR
Monthly newsletter on news from the New Forest Economy
Welcome to Arbonics’ monthly roundup of news relevant to forests, the voluntary carbon markets, and climate solutions more broadly. Bringing you the latest that catches our eye - as well as our own take on the news.
Key insights from the EU’s CRCF discussions
On February 5th, we attended the Carbon Removal Expert Group stakeholder meeting on the draft Delegated Act establishing certification methodologies for carbon farming under the EU’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework. One shift we thought was interesting: the system may move towards certifying performance and paying land managers for climate-positive action, rather than selling offset credits like the voluntary carbon market. In parallel, the EU is exploring an EU Buyers’ Club to aggregate private demand and an EU purchasing facility that could use public finance or guarantees to help procure CRCF credits.
💡 Arbonics’ take:
It’s exciting to see momentum around the CRCF framework. While voluntary standards like Verra will continue serving corporate credit buyers, CRCF is shaping up as a policy-driven system aimed at governments, regulated entities, and corporates making contribution claims aligned with EU climate targets. For most companies buying carbon credits today, CRCF won’t replace voluntary markets anytime soon. But it could become an important public–private financing channel for land-based climate action in Europe, rewarding land managers for verified climate outcomes alongside existing carbon markets.
UK’s Octopus Energy invests $1B in California’s climate tech sector
UK-based energy investor Octopus Energy announced plans to invest nearly $1 billion into carbon removal and clean energy solutions in California as part of its broader U.S. expansion strategy. Part of this capital will support grassland restoration and reforestation initiatives. The investment will also back heat battery technology to decarbonise industrial heat and a solar-plus-storage project expected to come online in 2026.
💡 Arbonics’ take:
It’s particularly interesting to see large energy investors stepping into nature-based carbon removal. Historically, capital from this part of the market has focused almost exclusively on renewables and grid infrastructure. The energy transition itself places increasing pressure on land and natural systems; as players like Octopus scale decarbonisation, investment in nature restoration will need to grow to ensure the transition is truly sustainable.
LEGO backs new carbon removal projects with $2.8M
The LEGO Group has committed an additional $2.8 million to CDR, bringing its total investment in carbon removal to $8.5 million. The new funding will support four projects through partnerships with Climate Impact Partners and ClimeFi, spanning large-scale reforestation in Mexico, alongside several engineered approaches such as biomass-based geological storage, carbon mineralisation, and marine carbon removal via alkalinity enhancement.
💡 Arbonics’ take:
LEGO’s approach reflects an increasingly common strategy among corporate buyers: building a diversified carbon removal portfolio across technologies and durability profiles. Diversification helps manage technology, delivery, and permanence risk, while supporting the scale-up of multiple CDR pathways simultaneously. For buyers exploring long-term carbon removal strategies, a portfolio approach that combines nature-based removals with emerging engineered solutions is quickly becoming the norm.
Methodologies from Isometric, Gold Standard and ACR qualify for CCP label
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has approved a new batch of methodologies to issue CCP-labelled carbon credits. The latest round includes methodologies which cover activities such as reforestation, improved forest management, and methane reductions from rice cultivation.
💡 Arbonics’ take:
Arbonics consulted with Isometric during the development of the protocol and has signed up to issue credits under it, so it’s great to see the methodology now recognised under the ICVCM framework! As integrity initiatives like CCP mature, approvals across major standards such as Isometric, Gold Standard, and ACR will play an important role in helping buyers navigate quality in the voluntary carbon market.
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