Ecobase sells first European afforestation credits to Rubicon Carbon

In early 2025, Ecobase completed the first sale of Verra-certified afforestation credits from our pan-European ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation) project, with the credits purchased by Rubicon Carbon.

This sale is the result of over two years of work establishing Europe’s largest ARR project under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard. The credits originate from the first issuance of our ongoing, annually monitored carbon removal program, which includes land across 24 countries.

Strong market interest for high-integrity European forestry credits

Interest in our credits was immediate and substantial. Following the first issuance at the end of 2024, we received offers totaling more than 100 million USD from corporate buyers looking to secure nature-based carbon removals with long-term impact and full traceability.

We chose Rubicon Carbon for the first sale based on strong value alignment. Their team shares our commitment to high-quality, science-based carbon projects and understands the importance of making carbon finance work for landowners. As Rubicon noted in their announcement, this marks the beginning of a broader partnership aimed at delivering long-term environmental and economic value.

“Despite growing interest from both local private sector and European environmental regulatory bodies, there are not many high-quality European forestry credits currently available on the market. We’re excited to partner with Ecobase and for this opportunity to support critical nature-based solutions that will help combat the decline of Europe’s carbon sinks while supporting local landowners and communities.” ‍

Tom Montag
CEO of Rubicon Carbon

Rubicon has since signed a 15- to 20-year agreement with Microsoft for the purchase of 18 million tonnes of carbon removal credits. The scale of this deal underscores the growing role of nature-based removals and highlights Rubicon’s position as a key actor in the voluntary carbon market.

“We’re pleased to have found such close alignment with a partner who understands the importance of developing high-quality forestry credits in Europe. This strategic partnership will help both us and Rubicon Carbon expand our reach and aid both the environmental and economic development of European landowners.”

Jaan Sepping
CEO of Ecobase

Building a full forest carbon solution

Ecobase was established to make it easy for European landowners to participate in carbon markets without needing to navigate the complexity alone. Our ARR project helps landowners regenerate degraded or unused land through afforestation, while retaining ownership of credits and flexibility in how and when to sell them.

To complement this, we’re expanding into Improved Forest Management (IFM), with our first IFM project currently under validation. This enables us to also work with landowners who already manage forests but want to shift toward more carbon-friendly practices.

By combining ARR and IFM, we’re creating a comprehensive forest carbon offering that supports landowners across the full forest lifecycle—from planting to long-term stewardship. Our aim is to promote sustainable, economically viable forestry while maximizing carbon benefits.

One partner for the whole journey

We believe landowners should have a reliable partner when they decide to make carbon a part of their forest income. Whether it’s through planting new forests or improving how existing ones are managed, our role is to make the process straightforward and worthwhile. Ecobase takes care of the full technical and administrative workload: we enroll landowners into our Verra-registered carbon program, manage the validation and verification of each new area, carry out ongoing monitoring, oversee third-party audits, and handle credit issuance and sales. In short, we focus on the complexity so landowners can focus on their forest, and benefit from carbon credits as a long-term source of additional income.

This first issuance is just the beginning. Our next issuance is planned for December 2025, and we continue to grow both the land area enrolled and the number of landowners and partners we work with across Europe.