Shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines and trader Marubeni are setting up a joint venture, Marubeni MOL Forests, to create, buy, sell, and retire nature-based carbon removal credit.
Marubeni will hold a 60% stake in the venture, with MOL owning the remaining 40% stake.
As their inaugural project, Marubeni MOL Forests plans to establish 10,000 hectares of new forests in India, targeting the generation of carbon credits starting in 2028.
Marubeni MOL Forests will generate and supply nature-based carbon removal credits, enabling their customers to offset greenhouse gas emissions by retiring or cancelling the rights to these carbon credits.
The nature-based carbon removal credits are based on the “direct removal of CO2 from the atmosphere”, which could be done through the natural ecosystems such as new afforestation or reforestation, MOL said in a statement.
The companies say the “net zero” goal is difficult to achieve by emission reductions alone.
Hence the market for carbon removal credits is “an indispensable tool” as it utilises carbon sequestration by new afforestation and carbon capture and storage technologies, such as carbon dioxide capture and storage, MOL said.
Also, nature-based carbon removal credits absorb CO2 and 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 revitalisation,” MOL said.
MOL aims to “contribute to the removal of a cumulative 2.2 million tons of CO2 by 2030” through the nature-based carbon removal credits earned through this project.
As for Marubeni, it is focusing on renewable energy and new energy businesses, such as hydrogen and ammonia, and sustainable forest management projects in Indonesia and Australia for CO2 sequestration and biodiversity conservation.
Additionally, Marubeni is actively generating and trading carbon credits through greenhouse gas reduction initiatives, working in partnership with businesses in Japan and abroad.
