Clyde & Co has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with Nature Broking that redefines how sustainability investments are treated in corporate finance. By capitalising its investment as a balance sheet asset rather than recording it as a profit-and-loss expense, the firm is launching a multi-year carbon removal credit procurement programme, securing supply for its projected residual emissions in 2038.

The five-year agreement covers 10,000 tonnes of annual residual emissions from 2038 onwards. It positions Clyde & Co at the forefront of emerging regulatory expectations, anticipating the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) updated standards, which increasingly view carbon removal credits as essential for tackling unavoidable emissions.

Nature Broking’s new model introduces three innovations that address long-standing concerns around carbon credit market integrity while providing the sophistication large corporates require to engage with confidence.

1. Strategic forward procurement

Instead of relying on spot-market purchases, Clyde & Co can now buy forward, hedging against expected price rises and supply constraints as companies approach net-zero deadlines. Bloomberg forward pricing suggests carbon removal credit values may increase three- to five-fold by 2038.

2. Balance sheet capitalisation

Working alongside specialist advisers Rethinking Capital, Clyde & Co is applying International Accounting Standards Board provisions (IAS37 and IAS38) to capitalise carbon credit investments as assets rather than P&L charges. This removes the profitability penalty that has historically deterred large-scale sustainability investment.

3. Risk-mitigated portfolio design

The portfolio is fully insured through Kita to guard against project failure. Nature Broking selected projects using rigorous due diligence criteria including verification standards, permanence and geographic relevance, creating a portfolio aligned with Clyde & Co’s operational footprint.

Luke Baldwin, co-founder of Nature Broking, said: “For the first time, sustainability professionals can confidently walk into the CFO’s office with an investment proposal, not an expense request. If carbon removal credit values increase—which forward curves suggest they will—the asset value on the balance sheet increases proportionally through asset appreciation. If decarbonisation accelerates ahead of schedule, the organisation has surplus removal capacity that provides strategic flexibility.”

Paddy Linighan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Clyde & Co, said: “This represents a sophisticated business case for long-term climate action that aligns financial prudence with environmental integrity. By treating our net-zero commitment as what it is, a future liability requiring strategic capital allocation, we can invest proactively rather than reactively. This pioneering value-creation partnership with Nature Broking complements our broader decarbonisation programme, which includes an SBTi-approved emissions reduction target of net zero by 2038 and active operational improvements across our global footprint.”

First-year portfolio composition

The initial allocation spans five projects:

• Two UK Woodland Carbon Code-certified initiatives
• One UK rewilding project delivered through a Nattergal buyers club
• One Verra-certified project in Kenya focused on tree planting, crop diversification and ecosystem restoration, developed through a legal sector collaboration with Save the Children Global Ventures
• Preparatory positioning for more permanent carbon removal technologies as they scale post-2030

The UK woodland projects include a site in Ayrshire within the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere, restoring 1940s pasture to native woodland to enhance biodiversity, and a mixed-species project in Dumfriesshire designed to strengthen ecological resilience.

This deal comes amid renewed momentum in corporate carbon markets. Companies used more carbon credits in the first half of 2025 than during any comparable period in the past 15 years, according to MSCI Carbon Markets, with around $10 billion committed to credit generation—more than triple the total from the same period in 2024.

Yet concerns around poor-quality credits persist. Nature Broking’s model prioritises integrity, transparency, insurance and rigorous due diligence to mitigate reputational risk.

Clyde & Co’s broader sustainability strategy aligns with SBTi guidance, using carbon removal credits only to address residual emissions that remain after aggressive decarbonisation across its global operations.