Microsoft has signed a long-term carbon removal agreement with reforestation firm Living Carbon.
The agreement will see the tech giant purchase 1.4 million tons of removal credits generated from Living Carbon’s large-scale reforestation project in the US Appalachian region, which spans the 13 states across the eastern and northeastern US.
"We are pleased to support this project as part of Microsoft's broader portfolio of high-quality carbon removal solutions. Uniquely targeted nature-based projects like this address systemic challenges while also generating positive climate and ecological outcomes," said Brian Marrs, senior director for energy and carbon removal at Microsoft.
The project aims to reforest up to 25,000 acres of degraded land, mostly at the site of former coal mines and marginalized agricultural land.
According to Living Carbon, the Appalachian region has significant potential for reforestation, with the central Appalachian region alone having four million acres of former coal-mined land.
The company claims that its projects are designed to maximize carbon removal while improving soil health and biodiversity on land that has been degraded by fossil fuel extraction. It currently has ongoing projects in Ohio, where it is reforesting five sites across former corn and soy agricultural land, and West Virginia, where it is reforesting former mineland. Living Carbon has said that they expect to scale the solution across millions of acres of degraded land.
"Restoring degraded mine lands offers one of the most scalable and meaningful opportunities for nature-based climate action in the United States," said Maddie Hall, CEO and co-founder of Living Carbon.
"We're proud to be working with Microsoft to advance high-quality reforestation and unlock the potential of some of the most challenging yet important lands in the US - not only for carbon removal, but also for restoring ecosystems and supporting the return of these lands to productivity."
All carbon removal credits delivered to Microsoft under the agreement will be verified and issued by Isometric, in line with its Reforestation Protocol.
Living Carbon was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Hayward, California. It has gained backing from a range of investors including Temasek, Toyota Ventures, Felicis, and Lowercarbon Capital. The deal with Microsoft is its first with a major tech company.
Microsoft is the world leader in carbon removal purchases. The agreement with Living Carbon is the latest in a long line of agreements it has signed with reforestation firms.
In 2025 alone, it has now signed four deals with reforestation companies. These include an agreement to remove 1.5 million tons of CO2 in India, a 25-year agreement with Chestnut Carbon to purchase seven million carbon credits, and another 25-year deal in Brazil with Re.green to purchase 3.5 million credits.
In addition, this year, Microsoft has signed removal agreements with Enhanced Rock Weathering company Terradot for 12,000 tons of CO2 removals and 6.75 million tons of removals from bioenergy firm AtmosClear BR.
