Anew Climate’s BSFC Subsidiary Awarded ESG Investment Initiative of the Year

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Anew Climate’s Blue Source Sustainable Forests Company (BSFC) has been awarded ESG Investment Initiative of the Year, North America by Environmental Finance. Winners were announced on the publication’s website on June 28, following a nomination and judging process that sought to discover and recognize major achievements in sustainable investing. BSFC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anew Climate (“Anew”), and in conjunction with an investment consortium led by Oak Hill Advisors, made significant acquisitions over its first year in operations, purchasing 1.8 million acres of industrial timberlands to become one of the largest US forestland owners transitioning these lands to a management practice that will maximize the forests’ carbon removal ability while providing long-lasting benefits to ecosystems and communities. 

“These acquisitions provide critical momentum to the carbon markets,” said Jamie Houston, CEO of BSFC. “We're honored and thrilled to have brought all parties to the table to realize this scalable carbon-first management program of formerly industrial timberlands. We look forward to reducing harvests and protecting these forests over the long-term to provide unprecedented, ground-level access for buyers looking to invest in results.”

Significant among BSFC’s 2022 acquisitions was a portfolio of forest holdings previously owned by The Forestland Group (TFG), consisting of 1.7 million acres and representing one of the largest private forest carbon investments in the United States. Strong additionality for the climate was key to BSFC’s selection criteria in the land acquisition process, targeting properties where, without a change in ownership, increased climate benefits would not occur. 

Anew has been the recipient of several top place rankings in the 2022 Environmental Finance Annual Market Survey, Energy Risk’s 2023 Environmental Products House of the Year, and the Land Report’s 2022 Deal of the Year, also for BSFC’s TFG portfolio acquisition. With this latest recognition, Anew continues to build on its record as a significant player in ESG investing among other category winners that include major banks, investment funds, data providers, consultants, and private equity firms.

More coverage of this award is available on the Environmental Finance website.