Author: FirstandThird Team

Aurora Sustainable Lands and Anew Climate combine proven land stewardship and innovative, technology-driven carbon quantification to deliver verifiable climate benefits.

Anew Climate, the world’s largest generator of certified, verified carbon removals today, and Aurora Sustainable Lands, one of the largest private U.S. forestland landowners, announced the issuance of carbon credits from three Aurora-owned properties—Big Poplar, Little Bear and Cumberland Gap—under the ACR’s Improved Forest Management (IFM) 2.1 methodology, representing a major step forward in forest carbon accounting and transparency.

Together, Aurora and Anew are pioneering a new model for climate impact: combining Aurora’s leadership in sustainable land stewardship with Anew’s advanced carbon quantification technology. This collaboration delivers some of the first credits verified under ACR’s IFM 2.1 methodology, recently approved by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) as meeting its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs).

Advancing Forest Carbon Through Innovation

Anew Climate and Aurora Sustainable Lands are collaborating to advance forest carbon integrity, with Anew leveraging its proprietary Epoch Platform to support this effort. Unlike traditional static baselines, Epoch applies dynamic, continuously updated measurements using high-resolution remote sensing, satellite-based carbon tracking, machine learning, and ground observations to enhance accuracy, transparency, and confidence in verified climate impact. By pairing Aurora’s science-based land management with Anew’s data-driven approach, the collaboration demonstrates how improved forestry methodologies can accelerate credible, scalable climate solutions.

“This issuance represents a breakthrough in the evolution of high-integrity forest carbon,” said Josh Strauss, president of environmental products at Anew Climate. “By combining ACR’s rigorous methodology with Aurora’s land stewardship and our Epoch evaluation framework, we’re raising the bar for forest carbon credibility, transparency, and scalability.”

The three projects span tens of thousands of acres across the southeastern United States and are owned and managed by Aurora Sustainable Lands, which stewards 1.65 million acres nationwide with a mission to transform timberlands into long-term carbon storage and biodiversity assets, aligning financial performance with positive environmental outcomes. 

“This achievement demonstrates how climate-smart forestry practices and science-based land management can work together to generate demonstrable results for investors, ecosystems, and the climate,” said Jamie G. Houston IV, CEO of Aurora Sustainable Lands.

The issuance underscores how technology and improved forestry methodologies are driving a new era of high integrity and transparency for the voluntary carbon market. Together, Anew and Aurora are setting a higher standard for forest carbon projects—delivering verified impact at scale.

Agreement to deliver 4.8 million nature-based carbon removal credits through next-generation IFM projects while protecting over 425,000 acres of forestland.

Anew Climate  and Aurora Sustainable Lands today announced a 10-year agreement with Microsoft  to deliver 4.8 million nature-based carbon removal credits.  

The deal supports one of the largest permanent working forest carbon removal efforts in the United States, and will provide investments and jobs across timberland communities.

The projects, developed by Anew Climate and owned and managed by Aurora Sustainable Lands, span ecologically diverse forestlands in New York, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Florida and utilize Improved Forest Management (IFM) to generate nature-based removal credits. Removals from these projects will be among the first issued under ACR’s IFM v2.1 protocol, a next-generation methodology that advances the field via dynamic baselines, enhanced additionality and monitoring requirements, improved quantification accuracy, and increased transparency.

At the heart of this initiative is Anew’s Epoch Evaluation Platform, a proprietary system that leverages machine learning, high-resolution satellite imagery, drone data, and ground-based field measurements to enable ongoing, location-specific tracking and validation of forest carbon baselines, surpassing the requirements of the IFM v2.1 methodology. In partnership with Aurora, Anew designed a custom project that exceeds registry mandates and meets Microsoft’s high standards for durability and integrity, featuring extended monitoring, tech-enabled quantification, perpetual working forest easements and covenants. Collectively, this marks the largest permanent working forest protection project in the eastern U.S. in two decades.

“This agreement sets a new standard for nature-based carbon removals, pairing technical rigor with environmental stewardship at scale,” said Angela Schwarz, Chief Executive Officer of Anew Climate. “Microsoft’s collaboration enables innovation that benefits the broader market and accelerates our collective path to net zero.”

At a time when high-quality nature- and technology-based carbon removals remain in limited supply, this agreement stands out for its immediate impact, as material volumes of removal credits will begin being delivered in 2025. 

“Aurora Sustainable Lands is distinctive because we are the landowner and operator, managing everything from root to credit. This comprehensive approach ensures the highest integrity and quality of our carbon credits,” said Jamie Houston, CEO of Aurora Sustainable Lands. “Microsoft, Anew, and Aurora all share a deep commitment to climate-smart, sustainable practices, ensuring a healthier planet for future generations.”

“We believe transparent and high-integrity nature-based carbon removal is important to meeting Microsoft’s Carbon Negative 2030 goal,” said Brian Marrs, Senior Director, Energy & Carbon Removal at Microsoft. “This agreement with Anew and Aurora reflects our commitment to advancing the integrity and impact of improved forest management.”