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Mercuria Energy Leads the Way in Voluntary Carbon Credit Sales with Tocantins, Brazil
05.06.2023

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 5 – Mercuria Energy Trading S.A. (Mercuria) is partnering with one of Brazil’s most biodiverse states, Toncantins, to protect the cerrado, a vast tropical and subtropical biome covering more than 20 percent of Brazil. The cerrado is among the most biologically rich savannahs in the world, including a range of ecosystems from closed forests to marshlands to open grassland.

The partnership was announced on World Environment Day and marks a significant milestone as Tocantins is now the first Brazilian state, and a global pioneer, in developing a jurisdictional Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) program to channel carbon finance at scale to stop deforestation. The regeneration of forests on degraded or deforested lands will remove CO₂ from the atmosphere through the build-up of biomass.

The program will be developed under ART TREES, the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions’ standard for quantifying, monitoring, reporting, and verifying greenhouse gas to ensure the greatest environmental integrity for the program and drive high-quality supply into the voluntary carbon market including a focus in monitoring and improving biodiversity outcomes from the project. A range of technical expertise to support the program will be provided by technical partners, including the Earth Innovation Institute and Geonoma Florestal.

“We applaud Tocantins leadership, commitment, and progress to reduce deforestation at the level of the entire state and to ensure rigorous environmental and social safeguards through compliance with the TREES Standard,” said Mary Grady, Executive Director of the ART Secretariat. “We hope that Tocantins’ example of how achieving jurisdictional REDD+ results attracts private capital at scale will incentivize other subnational jurisdictions in Brazil and beyond to take action to protect and restore forests.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Mercuria commits to finance the program's launch including developing all the safeguards for the program success and enable Tocantins to actively participate in the voluntary carbon market. The jurisdictional carbon is supported by the commitment of the government of Tocantins to a series of environmental safeguards, such as investment in monitoring and control of biome preservation, improving livelihoods in indigenous and other traditional communities, benefit-sharing of the program revenues across stakeholders, and society's participation in the management of the sustainable development of the territory.

"This is an innovative initiative that was only possible thanks to Tocantins' commitment to environmental preservation, illustrated by a wide set of public policies and a legal framework that have been developed and implemented for the long term. We have been preparing the state for this moment that puts Brazil at the forefront of tackling the global climate crisis", explains Tocantins' Governor Wanderlei Barbosa.

This first-of-its-kind program is part of Silvania, an ambitious and unique vehicle launched by Mercuria with a capital commitment of $500M that will exclusively invest in natural climate solutions globally to support the delivery of the Paris Agreement goals and the UN 30x30 initiative, which aims to protect 30 percent of Earth's land and ocean area by 2030. Enric Arderiu, Global Head of Environmental at Mercuria, expressed his enthusiasm for this innovative initiative, “This is a first of its kind in Brazil. Silvania looks forward to engaging the private sector to catalyze further carbon finance to help stop deforestation in Brazil.”

Established in 2004, Mercuria is one of the world's largest independent energy and commodity groups, revolutionizing the commodity value chain through technology, expertise, and low-carbon solutions. The company has firmly positioned itself as a leader in the energy transition, with over 50 percent of its new investments directed towards renewables and transitional energy. Mercuria has made substantial contributions to projects such as renewable power, energy storage, grid optimization, critical transition minerals recycling, and environmental products, showcasing its dedication to a sustainable future.

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