Microsoft and Re.green will spend a quarter of a century restoring Brazilian forests

Microsoft has entered into another agreement designed to reduce the company’s negative impact on the environment. The company will buy 3.5 million carbon credits over 25 years from Brazilian reforestation startup Re.green, the Financial Times reports. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but it is estimated that it could be around $200 million.

Re.green works to restore ecosystems and biodiversity in depleted lands. The company buys former agricultural and cattle-breeding lands on which it grows tree species characteristic of the area. The company’s operations are financed both by the sale of carbon credits and by locally producing “certified” hardwood. These are said to be very environmentally friendly, promoting reforestation through sustainable management of the entire production chain.

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Over the past 12 months, companies have already concluded a second deal. In May last year, an agreement was signed on the removal of carbon from the atmosphere, which provides for the sale of loans for approximately 3 million tons for 15 years. According to The Register, the company confirmed that now in fact we are talking about the same deal, only the numbers have changed somewhat. In May it was reported that thanks to the transaction it will be possible to finance the restoration of more than 16 thousand hectares of former pastures throughout Brazil. More than half of the plots have already been acquired, which will allow to plant at least 10.7 million seedlings of trees.

In 2024, Microsoft signed many agreements to remove carbon from the atmosphere. The company purchased carbon credits from businesses implementing various technologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, including direct capture of gas from thermal power plant exhausts, biological methods, the use of eco-concrete and accelerated rock weathering technology, and also entered into agreements to use nuclear energy.

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True, the company was accused of so-called “green camouflage” – a practice that only pretends to care about the environment, when in fact Microsoft has close ties to fossil fuel companies. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by the nonprofit group As You Sow, Microsoft is disingenuously positioning itself as one of the “pioneers” in the fight against climate change, while simultaneously viewing the use of fossil fuels as one of the most significant opportunities for the development of AI and cloud.

Additionally, in a recent sustainability report, the company acknowledged that its greenhouse gas emissions have risen nearly 30% since 2020, despite the company’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, according to The Register. In particular, the reason is the increase in Scope 3 emissions associated with the construction and equipping of more data centers to meet demand for cloud services, especially for the development of AI.