A platform for purchasing permanent carbon removal credits

A new fintech platform helps organisations avoid poor quality carbon projects

Spotted: There are now a lot of carbon offsetting schemes available, but some of these are low-quality and ineffective at reducing carbon. Issues with projects range from promises for emission reductions that rely on vague predictions, to projects that lead to community conflicts or other issues, as well as those that use unreliable baselines to inflate promises. Organisations that get involved in these offsetting schemes can end up being accused of greenwashing.

To solve this problem, climate fintech startup Carbonˣ is working to cut through the ambiguity and the lack of market oversight that pervades the sector. The company is doing this by identifying high-quality permanent carbon removal projects and managing the risk of non-delivery. All projects are vetted with detailed quality and risk assessments before being offered on Carbonˣ’s platform.

Companies can then choose a project portfolio based on their budget, delivery timeline, and climate goals or needs. The platform also allows customers to refine their project specifications and portfolio based on areas such as geographic and technology preferences. Users can also track their organisation’s impact on carbon removal. Carbonˣ offers different procurement models, such as pay-as-you-go and requests for proposal.

Paolo Piffaretti, Carbonˣ co-founder and CEO, explains: “Carbonˣ helps companies achieve real net zero by procuring strictly permanent carbon removal credits (…) We do this by sourcing and evaluating best-in-class CDR technologies (…) This approach de-risks carbon removal procurement for companies while maximising their climate impact.”

Carbonˣ is not alone is aiming to make the carbon market more transparent and reliable. Springwise has also spotted a platform for investing in low-impact bamboo and a transparency tool that makes investing in carbon offsets easy to track and manage.

Written By: Lisa Magloff