'We come to this new market with humility': Iberdrola launches Carbon2Nature

Yesterday, Iberdrola, a large Spanish energy company, unveiled a global carbon credit enterprise to alleviate the climate by capturing 61 million tonnes of CO2 annually. The projects encompass forest conservation, reforestation, marine environments, and farming.

Under the title Carbon2Nature, Iberdrola plans to create and partner on projects that utilize nature-based solutions to generate "high-quality" carbon credits that can be sold to companies striving to attain corporate net zero goals.

Launched through Iberdrola's PERSEO start-up programme, the organization plans to capture CO2 in natural sinks through preservation and restoration projects covering over 100,000 hectares of woods, coastal habitats and farmlands.

The Spanish energy giant, also the parent company of UK energy firm ScottishPower, has declared that their projects will strive to diminish emissions from nature destruction, increase biodiversity, and serve to promote both environmental and social advantages in addition to carbon sequestration.

Iberdrola's Carbon2Nature program aims to implement carbon credit schemes in the same places where the company is already present. It expects most of these nature-based initiatives to be in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile. The remaining 20 per cent of the projects are projected to be set up in Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal.

The firm reported that it had already begun the progress of initiatives in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Spain. It emphasized that all carbon credit ventures would meet internationally approved biodiversity criteria.

Miguel Ángel Garcia Tamargo, the head of Carbon2Nature, declared that Iberdrola's purpose in establishing the new venture was to create "a lasting result at a global level" in the battle against global warming as the Spanish energy firm moves towards its objective of reaching net zero emissions across its whole business and value chain by 2040, as well as providing a net positive effect on biodiversity by 2030.

Tamago declared that Carbon2Nature is dedicated to broadening its reach in location and projects and embracing cooperation with local societies and other individuals to ensure excellence. "We come to the new market with a modest attitude and a willingness to adopt an alternate approach by bringing Iberdrola's proficiency in sustainability to the realm of nature-based solutions and carbon credit production."

In 2020, Iberdrola launched its tree programme to conserve and plant 20 million trees by 2030. The establishment of their new business followed this.