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 · Multiple · 2025–2026

Planetary sold 625.6 ocean carbon credits as LOC-NESS and ExOIS trials proceed

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

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: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Planetary Technologies issued 625.6 ocean alkalinity credits, while the LOC-NESS and ExOIS trials are research that sells no credits. Frontier agreed to buy 115,211 credits, with deliveries due in 2026 to 2030.

What?
Planetary Technologies issued ocean alkalinity credits and sold them to buyers; LOC-NESS and ExOIS are research trials that sell no credits. Carbon Herald
Where?
Gulf of Maine (LOC-NESS), Gulf of Alaska (ExOIS proposal), Nova Scotia (Planetary), St Ives, Cornwall (cancelled trial) Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
When?
LOC-NESS in August 2025; ExOIS proposal in February 2026; Planetary credits in 2025. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Who?
Gained
  • Planetary Technologies — Issued 625.6 credits; Frontier offtake of 115,211 credits for $31.3 million Carbon Herald
  • Stripe, Shopify and British Airways — Buyers of Planetary credits Carbon Herald
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Ocean alkalinity enhancement and iron fertilisation trials; credits issued through the Isometric registry. Carbon Herald
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reported that its LOC-NESS small-scale ocean alkalinity trial in the Gulf of Maine was completed in August 2025, funded independently of industry, with no credit sales.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said ExOIS proposed a trial of about 1,000 square kilometres in the Gulf of Alaska in February 2026 and would not sell credits.

Carbon Herald reported that Planetary Technologies issued 625.6 credits to Stripe, Shopify and British Airways, and that Frontier agreed to buy 115,211 credits for $31.3 million with deliveries in 2026 to 2030.

Carbon Herald reported that Planetary cancelled its trial in St Ives, Cornwall, after local opposition, including a protest of about 300 people.

    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 we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: LOC-NESS had a 75-day public comment period with more than 250 comments, and a 2024 plan of 60,000 gallons.
    • None on record The price of about $271 per tonne for the Frontier deal is an estimate, not a confirmed price.
    • None on record Reported without a link: a sector publication says more than 90 percent of marine carbon removal credits have not yet been delivered to buyers.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

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

    Press and investigations

    Researchers

    2. WHOI press release on ocean iron fertilisation trials
      Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution · 2026-02-05

    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

    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.
    Standard-setter and registry
    An organisation that writes the rules for carbon credits, approves projects, and records when credits are issued and retired. Such bodies typically charge fees per credit.
    Similar cases
    Carbon credits · Canada · 2019–2026
    IMF whale-value paper and Baffinland narwhal pilot
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame countryHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · European Union · 2016–2025
    Used cooking oil and POME biofuel certification fraud (ISCC, EU/UK)
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame countryHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · Wildfire · Insurance, liability and compensation funds · United States · date not stated
    California forest carbon projects burned (Verra buffer pool)
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame countryHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · United States · 2005–2026
    Edelman: API contract, Energy Citizens and the COP30 contract
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame countryHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · United States · 2020–2026
    Bezos Earth Fund: first grants and SBTi funding
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame countryHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon capture and climate intervention · Carbon credits · Canada · 2015–2020
    Quest CCS (Shell, Alberta)
    Same type: Carbon creditsSame countryHarm to nature not measured