Equitable Earth has raised €12.6 million to expand its certification programme for nature-based carbon projects and invest further in data, technology and methodologies aimed at increasing trust and scalability in the voluntary carbon market.
The financing round was led by a U.S.-based family office and included continued backing from existing investors AENU, noa, and LocalGlobe. Equitable Earth said the new capital brings its total funding to more than €25 million.
Founded to certify nature-based carbon projects, Equitable Earth said it has grown rapidly over the past five years by building a fully digital certification model designed to reduce time and cost for project developers while improving transparency and consistency. The company said its programme has been formally recognised as eligible against the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s Core Carbon Principles, a benchmark intended to raise quality standards across voluntary carbon markets.
Equitable Earth also pointed to third-party assessment of its methodology work. The company said its Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation methodology has been cited by carbon ratings agency Sylvera as among the most rigorous and trustworthy in the market, and it expects similar recognition for its recently released REDD+ methodology.
The company framed the raise around growing demand for high-integrity credits that can credibly demonstrate climate impact while also protecting ecosystems and supporting local communities. Equitable Earth said its standard is built to address persistent concerns around transparency, conflicts of interest and inconsistent accounting practices by keeping carbon accounting and risk modelling in-house, applying standardised approaches across projects, and expanding the use of remote sensing for monitoring and reporting.
Equitable Earth said its approach requires projects to deliver measurable outcomes not only for carbon, but also for ecological condition and livelihoods, with specific requirements for participation, protection and equitable benefit sharing for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
The company said it will use the funding to expand its technology platform and underlying data systems, hire across research and development, engineering, commercial and certification teams, and accelerate the certification of additional hectares to increase the global supply of nature-based credits. It also plans to develop new methodologies to cover more threatened ecosystems as it broadens its geographic and project reach.
KEY QUOTES
“Equitable Earth continues to focus on enabling organisations to protect and restore the natural world by certifying projects in a trusted, scalable way. This new round of funding allows us to continue to grow and establish ourselves as the global standard for nature-based projects.”
Thibault Sorret, CEO, Equitable Earth
“The carbon markets need scalable, reliable projects that deliver real climate, ecological, and social outcomes. This funding helps Equitable Earth to meet that demand, cementing its position as a market leader in high-integrity, nature-based certification.”
Arjun Jairaj, noa
