Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Carbon credits · Brazil · 2024

Microsoft forestry carbon deals and the Apple Restore Fund

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Microsoft contracted tens of millions of tonnes of forestry-based carbon removal from re.green, Rubicon, Chestnut Carbon and Kijani Forestry, while its own emissions rose 29% between 2020 and 2023. Apple's Restore Fund, managed by Climate Asset Management, invests partly in plantings of commercial species such as eucalyptus.

re.green 3 Mt · Chestnut 7 Mt · Rubicon 18 MtForestry carbon removal contracted by Microsoft (as reported)
Tonnes of carbon dioxide as reported in press coverage of the deals; delivery periods differ (re.green and Chestnut are long-term offtake agreements). Microsoft reported 17.1 Mt of emissions for 2023.

Status As of the latest sources reviewed (2026): the Microsoft and Apple fund arrangements are active; no court case or independent ecological evaluation found.

What?
Microsoft contracted forestry-based carbon removal from several developers, and Apple's Restore Fund expanded to US$280 million, managed by Climate Asset Management. Apple
Where?
Brazil (re.green, Bom Futuro in Rondônia), the southern United States (Chestnut), northern Uganda (Kijani); Apple fund: Paraguay, Brazil, Kenya.
When?
2023 to 2026.
Who?
Gained
  • re.green, Rubicon, Chestnut Carbon, Kijani Forestry — Sellers of forestry carbon removal to Microsoft; revenue not stated in the sources reviewed.
  • Climate Asset Management (HSBC and Pollination) — Manager of the Apple Restore Fund and of more than US$1 billion in assets, as reported. ESG Today
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Microsoft's emissions rose 29% between 2020 and 2023 while it contracted carbon removal. TechCrunch
How?
Long-term offtake agreements for tonnes of carbon removal from planted or restored forest; an investment fund managed by a bank–advisory partnership.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In May 2024 press reports described a Microsoft agreement with the Brazilian restoration company re.green for 3 million tonnes of carbon removal from more than 16,000 hectares of restoration, and a framework deal with Rubicon Carbon for 18 million tonnes. A separate report in May 2025 covered the same deals.

In January 2025 TechCrunch reported a Microsoft agreement with Chestnut Carbon, a reforestation company working in the southern United States, for 7 million tonnes over 25 years from 60,000 acres. The same report gave Microsoft's emissions as 17.1 million tonnes in 2023, a 29% increase on 2020.

In 2026 the first project under the Rubicon framework, Kijani Forestry in northern Uganda, was reported as involving 2 million credits and more than 50,000 smallholder farmers. The sources reviewed do not state what share of revenue goes to the farmers.

In March 2024 Apple announced an expansion of its Restore Fund, to US$280 million in total of which Apple contributed US$200 million, with TSMC and Murata joining. The fund is managed by Climate Asset Management, a partnership between HSBC and the advisory and investment firm Pollination, which was reported in September 2024 to manage more than US$1 billion. The fund invests in projects in Paraguay, Brazil and Kenya, partly in plantings of commercial species such as eucalyptus.

In March 2026 re.green was the only bidder in Brazil's first federal forest concession to include carbon rights, for Bom Futuro National Forest in Rondônia; it received a 40-year concession and is to pay the state 0.70% of gross revenue. A member of re.green's board is a former president of Brazil's central bank, and the company sells credits to Microsoft.

  1. 2022April: re.green receives investment of R$389 million from family-office and fund investors, with a stated target of 1 million hectares
  2. 2023December: Microsoft and Mombak agree a purchase of 1.5 million carbon removal credits by 2032 (reported)
  3. 2024March: Apple expands the Restore Fund to US$280 million; May: Microsoft deals with re.green and Rubicon reported
  4. 2025January: Microsoft–Chestnut Carbon deal reported; May: further coverage of the re.green and Rubicon deals
  5. 2026March: re.green wins the Bom Futuro forest concession; Kijani Forestry (Uganda) reported as first project under the Rubicon framework

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Apple presented the Restore Fund as an expanded fund of US$280 million with TSMC and Murata as new investors.
    Apple · Apple

Recorded

  • Microsoft's reported emissions were 17.1 million tonnes in 2023, up 29% from 2020.
    TechCrunch
  • re.green's concession at Bom Futuro had a single bidder and a state payment of 0.70% of gross revenue over 40 years.
  • The Apple Restore Fund is managed by Climate Asset Management and invests partly in plantings of commercial species such as eucalyptus.

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: 2024. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • apple (13 March 2024): Announced the expansion of its Restore Fund with TSMC and Murata. · Apple

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Contracted removal (re.green, Chestnut, Rubicon)
3 Mt · 7 Mt · 18 Mt
As reported; contract terms differ
Microsoft emissions 2020–2023
+29%
17.1 Mt in 2023 (TechCrunch)
Independent ecological evaluation of these projects
Not found
The sources reviewed do not include one

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluationKey earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

Court

Record

  • Not disclosed Revenue share for the 50,000+ smallholder farmers at Kijani Forestry: not disclosed.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that re.green had bought about 26,000 hectares by early 2025 against a target of 1 million hectares.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that former Bank of America executives sit on the management of Rubicon Carbon.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that the Microsoft–re.green agreement covers 3 million tonnes over 15 years.

Did the harm stop?

The sources reviewed record no harm to nature attributed to these deals and no stop.

Who paid?

Not established in the sources reviewed.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Company or project

Press and investigations

  2. Microsoft deals coverage (via farmlandgrab)
    DatacenterDynamics · 2025-05-16
  5. re.green investment announcement
    Global Private Capital Association · 2022-04

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Carbon and conservation finance

Carbon credit
A certificate representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) that a project says it reduced, avoided or removed. Buyers use credits to balance their own emissions in climate claims.
ESG
Environmental, social and governance criteria that investors and insurers use to screen companies and projects.
Similar cases
Carbon credits · Tree planting · Brazil · 2022
Biomas restoration initiative
Same type: Carbon credits, Tree plantingSame countryHarm to nature not measured
Carbon credits · Tree planting · Protected area / relocation · Uganda · 1990–2009
FACE Foundation Mount Elgon carbon forest (Uganda)
Same type: Carbon credits, Tree plantingSame countryHarm to nature not measured
Carbon credits · Tree planting · Republic of Congo · 2020–2025
TotalEnergies Batéké acacia carbon project (Congo)
Same type: Carbon credits, Tree plantingSame regionHarm to nature not measured
Carbon credits · Tree planting · Senegal · 2009–2026
Livelihoods Fund mangrove project (Senegal)
Same type: Carbon credits, Tree plantingSame region
Carbon credits · Tree planting · Myanmar · date not stated
Worldview International Foundation mangrove project (Myanmar)
Same type: Carbon credits, Tree plantingHarm to nature not measured
Carbon credits · Tree planting · Netherlands · 2019–2023
Shell nature-based solutions and carbon-neutral driving ads
Same type: Carbon credits, Tree plantingHarm to nature not measured