MUMBAI: A newly formed joint venture between Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd (MOL), the world’s second largest ship owner by fleet size, and Marubeni Corporation, plans to develop new forests covering 10,000 hectares in India, aiming to start handling carbon credits from 2028.
Marubeni MOL Forests Co, Ltd, 60% owned by Marubeni and 40% by MOL will create, purchase, sell, and retire nature-based carbon removal credits, MOL said in a statement.
Retire refers to the process of cancelling carbon credit rights on behalf of customers, thereby offsetting their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Nature-based carbon removal credits are carbon credits based on the direct removal of CO2 from the atmosphere using natural ecosystems such as new afforestation and reforestation.
MOL and Marubeni signed a shareholder’s agreement on Monday to form the joint venture company.
The JV company aims to contribute to global environmental preservation and sustainable societal development through the creation, trading, and proxy retirement of nature-based carbon removal credits with the first project in India.
The acceleration of the global movement toward decarbonization in recent years, along with intensified efforts at the corporate and national level, has put the spotlight on nature-based carbon removal credits based on methods that directly remove CO2 from the atmosphere (carbon removal credits).
“The market for carbon removal credits, which utilize carbon sequestration by new afforestation and carbon capture and storage technologies such as carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), is expected to further expand in the future as an indispensable tool for achieving the net zero goal, which is difficult to achieve by emission reductions alone,” MOL said.
Nature-based carbon removal credits not only absorb CO2, but also bring co-benefits, such as biodiversity conservation, soil improvement, and water conservation functions. These approaches make it possible to simultaneously combat climate change and protect the natural environment, contributing to nature revitalization, it said.
MOL and Marubeni will create and supply nature-based carbon removal credits through this project to strengthen initiatives to realize a decarbonized society and contribute to global environmental conservation and the development of a sustainable society.
As part of its long-term vision to deal with climate change, Marubeni is focusing on renewable energy, new energy businesses such as hydrogen and ammonia, and sustainable forest management projects in Indonesia and Australia for CO2 sequestration and biodiversity conservation.
Further, Marubeni is also generating and trading carbon credits through GHG reduction activities and support in collaboration with businesses in Japan and overseas.
The MOL Group, on the other hand, aims to become a social infrastructure company under its ‘BLUE ACTION 2035’ management plan which seeks to strengthen non-shipping businesses and proactively invest in these fields. In addition, it set the goal of achieving net-zero GHG emissions for the entire MOL Group by 2050.
The high-quality nature-based carbon removal credits earned through this project will also “contribute to the removal of a cumulative 2.2 million tons of CO2 by 2030” as stated in the MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.2.
