The transaction includes 13 Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, covering 247,000 acres owned by more than 280 private family forest landowners, the companies said in a news release. All carbon credits generated by the project will be acquired by TotalEnergies, which plans to use the credits to voluntarily offset its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions.
The release did not provide an estimate for the number of carbon credits expected to be created.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
TotalEnergies produces and markets oil and biofuels, natural gas, biogas and low-carbon hydrogen, renewables and electricity.
The deal with NativState is part of TotalEnergies’ plan to invest $100 million annually to build a portfolio of projects capable of generating at least 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent carbon credits per year by 2030.
The carbon program managed by NativState offers landowners an income alternative to heavy timber harvesting while restoring forest health and improving carbon stocks. The company’s forest management practices meet the standards of the American Carbon Registry, a nonprofit organization that lets landowners generate carbon credits with forestry methods that sequester more carbon dioxide than other forests.
NativeState in January announced it had sold 400,000 credits through its Bottomland Forests of Louisiana Plains project.
The company’s first sale came in March 2024 with an 18,000-acre project in south Arkansas. The sustainably managed forests are expected to create an estimated 1.5 million carbon credits over the next 20 years.
