Living Carbon secures $500m deal with Octopus Energy Generation to restore degraded land and remove CO₂

Living Carbon PBC, a climate technology company, has signed a major deal with leading specialist renewable investor Octopus Energy Generation to remove up to 50 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through reforestation projects. 

Octopus’s fund management team is set to invest $500 million into afforestation and reforestation projects in the US developed by the Californian business. 

On top of that, Octopus Energy Generation is investing nearly $13 million in Living Carbon’s fast-growing carbon removal business. 

With the new funding, Living Carbon will be positioned to remove up to 50 million tons of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years – roughly the same as the annual CO₂e footprint of New York City*.

Living Carbon restores land that won’t recover on its own, like old mining sites and degraded farmland. Often this land is in the same regions where new data centers are being built, making restoration and land reuse especially important.

Across the U.S., over 130 million acres lie degraded with potential for tree planting – that’s more than the state of California.** With new funding, Living Carbon will transform these lands into thriving, natural, CO₂-absorbing powerhouses with native trees to fight climate change.

Beyond capturing CO₂, these projects deliver a host of additional benefits: restoring wildlife habitats, improving water quality, strengthening soils, and supporting local economies in rural communities.

The deal comes as Living Carbon continues to expand its base of long-term customer agreements. This includes major carbon offtake agreements with Symbiosis Coalition members Google, Meta, and McKinsey. Together, they contracted over 131,000 tonnes of carbon removal from Living Carbon over the next 10 years. 

This reflects the broader growth in corporate demand: forward purchase agreements for carbon removal totaled $13.7 billion in 2025, as buyers locked in long-term supply ahead of 2030 targets. Over the same period, the number of companies with validated net-zero targets grew 61%, with Asia emerging as the fastest-growing region.***

Maddie Hall, Founder and CEO, Living Carbon, said: “Our partnership with Octopus takes us from early-stage implementation to delivering long-term carbon removal at scale with institutional capital. This is a sign that this market is maturing into real project finance as corporate commitments to net-zero increase.”

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO at Octopus Energy Generation, said: “This is a landmark deal for us in the US and a huge step in our mission to invest in solutions that drive the planet toward a cleaner future.

Having industry leaders and the world’s largest tech giants backing these projects sends a powerful signal that this market is ready to grow. Nature itself is a remarkable force for capturing carbon – by restoring these ecosystems, we can make a real difference for both rural communities and the climate.”

This move is part of Octopus’s broader commitment to expand its presence in one of the world’s leading clean-tech hubs, California, with the goal of directing $2 billion into US clean energy projects by 2030.

It builds on Octopus’s global investment strategy to accelerate the renewable energy transition, already managing around 400 clean energy assets worldwide.

Living Carbon is building one of the leading platforms for scalable, high-quality carbon removal and sustainable biomass on degraded land in the United States. Learn more at: https://www.livingcarbon.com/.

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