Meta, the owner of Facebook, has agreed to purchase up to 3.9 million carbon offset credits from BTG Pactual’s forestry division, a Brazilian investment bank, by 2038, according to a joint statement released on Wednesday. The deal’s value remains undisclosed, but based on last week’s average price of $4.22 per credit for forestry carbon offsets, the transaction could be worth as much as $16 million, according to data from Allied Offsets.
Carbon offsets allow companies to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by funding projects that reduce emissions elsewhere, helping them meet corporate climate goals. Each credit corresponds to a reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions.
Under the long-term agreement, Meta will initially purchase 1.3 million carbon credits, with the option to acquire an additional 2.6 million. The company stated that this is its largest carbon removal transaction from a single project, part of its goal to achieve net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2030.
The credits stem from BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group’s (TIG) forest restoration projects in Latin America, where over 7 million seedlings have been planted. In June, TIG also completed the sale of 8 million carbon credits to Microsoft, marking the largest such transaction globally.
Despite these deals, demand for carbon offsets has stalled in the past year, with companies like Nestle and Gucci scaling back their purchases due to skepticism about the effectiveness of credits in reducing emissions.
