Weyerhaeuser's Historic Sale and the Potential Industry Impact

A sale of carbon credits by the largest private American forest landowner has the potential to establish a benchmark of sorts. Weyerhaeuser Corporation delivered that at the end of 2023 with its first sale involving 32,000 credits for $29 per credit or $928,000. According to the company's announcement, it comes from “improved forest management” on the Kirby-Skinner project on forest land that the company owns in Maine.

The American Carbon Registry will issue the credits. The project will be managed by Carbon Direct, which Weyerhaeuser said “is providing advisory and marketing services and helping ensure Weyerhaeuser projects meet the Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal, which are science-based benchmarks to drive effective, equitable climate action at scale.”

"All projects we are developing follow three key principles: they must represent real, measurable changes to our business operations to capture additional carbon, deliver long-term climate benefits, and be based on a transparent methodology,” said Russell Hagen, senior vice president, and chief development officer for Weyerhaeuser.

Weyerhaeuser owns 11 million acres of land in North America and also owns a large wood-based manufacturing operation.