BP (NYSE: BP) has revealed that it has acquired a majority stake in carbon offset developer Finite Carbon.
The energy major noted that it will bring the company into its in-house business accelerator; BP Launchpad. Together with BP’s additional investment, this is expected to bolster Finite Carbon’s expansion, including into new geographical markets, BP revealed.
“Finite Carbon has the potential to build a global platform for managing and financing natural climate solutions,” David Eyton, BP’s executive vice president of innovation and engineering, said in a company statement.
“Deepening our partnership will allow them to accelerate their development and expansion. Finite Carbon’s progression through BP – from venturing investment to majority ownership and introduction to Launchpad – is a great example of how we are applying our unique innovation ecosystem to foster innovation and build material energy businesses in support of our net zero ambition,” he added.
The founder of Finite Carbon, Sean Carney, said, “putting a price on carbon can make it possible for anyone with the ability to protect, plant, or improve forests to generate revenue from their efforts”.
“However, there is currently limited infrastructure to quantify, monitor, and verify these actions at scale. Thanks to this unique partnership with BP, Finite Carbon now has the resources of a global energy company behind it to help address this enormous environmental challenge and help small landowners access this market,” he added.
In October last year, BP Ventures invested $5 million in Finite Resources, the parent company of Finite Carbon. In a company statement at the time, BP said the investment will enable Finite Carbon to grow a new line of business to incentivize sustainable forest management.
Finite Carbon identifies and develops projects that enable landowners to generate revenue from the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of forests. These actions increase carbon stored in forests and generate carbon offsets that are verified against industry recognized standards and can be traded on markets. The company now has 50 carbon projects on three million acres in the U.S. which have registered more than 70 million independently verified offsets and generated more than $500 million in revenue for landowners.
BP Launchpad focuses on providing multi-year funding and support for rapid start-up development with BP as a majority shareholder. It offers founders and teams business building capabilities and expertise in operations, finance, tech, growth marketing, talent, and corporate development, alongside long-term growth with an incentivized exit path.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
Leave a Reply