Colombia Completes $180M Carbon Credit Sale to Microsoft
Largest carbon credit deal in LatAm history.
Colombia completed a landmark $180 million carbon credit transaction with Microsoft, the largest such deal in Latin American history. The credits originate from a 2 million hectare Amazon rainforest preservation zone in Caqueta province, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth and a critical carbon sink for the global climate.
The deal validates Colombia's strategy of monetizing its vast tropical forest assets through international carbon markets rather than traditional extractive industries like logging, mining, and cattle ranching. President Petro called the agreement 'proof that standing forests are more valuable than fallen ones,' and announced plans to replicate the model across five additional conservation zones totaling 8 million hectares.
The Colombian peso strengthened 0.5% against the dollar on the news, while environmental and forestry stocks listed on the Colombia Stock Exchange (BVC) rose sharply. Microsoft will use the credits to offset emissions from its rapidly expanding AI data center operations, which have caused the company's overall carbon footprint to increase 30% since 2020 despite its pledge to become carbon-negative by 2030.
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