Carbon ratings agency BeZero Carbon has published independent ex ante ratings for 14 carbon dioxide removal projects supported by Microsoft. The evaluated portfolio spans initiatives in Argentina, India, Peru, and the United States, covering diverse technological and nature-based carbon removal pathways, including biocharBiochar is a carbon-rich material created from biomass decomposition in low-oxygen conditions. It has important applications in environmental remediation, soil improvement, agriculture, carbon sequestration, energy storage, and sustainable materials, promoting efficiency and reducing waste in various contexts while addressing climate change challenges. More, improved forest management, soil carbon, and agroforestry. This release offers a comprehensive overview of the risk profiles associated with the off-take commitments of the market’s largest corporate carbon credit buyer.

As corporate demand for voluntary carbon credits expands, project off-takers face considerable uncertainty regarding whether early-stage carbon removal initiatives will successfully deliver promised credits. Evaluating projects prior to credit issuance requires navigating complex variables across technical additionality, carbon accounting accuracy, long-term durability, and operational delivery risks. Major buyers requiring reliable offset streams must assess these multifaceted execution dynamics across geographically diverse project developers using fundamentally different methodologies.

To address these assessment challenges, Microsoft’s Carbon Removal team collaborated with BeZero’s Beyond Carbon specialists to deploy an ex ante risk framework. BeZero evaluated the selected projects by analyzing structural additionality, permanence protocols, and underlying carbon accounting metrics. Furthermore, the framework examined operational execution and delivery factors to measure the likelihood of credit issuance, while incorporating broader environmental and community impact indicators into the final analysis.

This independent rating initiative establishes transparent benchmark metrics for evaluating pre-issuance carbon dioxide removal investments across different project methodologies. The resulting risk assessments provide institutional buyers and investors on the BeZero Carbon Markets platform with standardized criteria to evaluate early-stage delivery risk. For Microsoft, integrating independent ex ante ratings reinforces internal procurement standards and provides third-party verification for its multi-million-tonne carbon removal portfolio.