{"id":31761,"date":"2026-01-15T16:01:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=31761"},"modified":"2026-01-15T16:01:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:01:57","slug":"microsoft-to-tap-50000-ugandan-smallholders-for-carbon-credits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/microsoft-to-tap-50000-ugandan-smallholders-for-carbon-credits\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft to Tap 50,000 Ugandan Smallholders for Carbon Credits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A forest collective of 50,000 Ugandan smallholders will supply Microsoft with 2 million carbon credits over the next decade, <a href=\"https:\/\/carbonherald.com\/rubicon-carbon-to-provide-microsoft-with-2m-forestry-credits-from-ugandan-kijani-project\/\">marking a major step forward in the tech giant&#8217;s carbon removal strategy.<\/a> Wood Central understands the credits will be generated through Kijani Forestry\u2019s Smallholder Farmer Forestry Project \u2014 one of the first initiatives approved under Uganda\u2019s Climate Change Mechanisms Regulations passed last May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The deal is being delivered through Rubicon Carbon, a US climate\u2011finance and carbon\u2011removal firm backed by TPG Rise Climate, with Rubicon working with Microsoft to unlock 18 million tonnes of carbon removals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uganda\u2019s carbon market is amongst the most advanced in Africa, with the new regulations establishing the legal basis for approving carbon projects, issuing credits and participating in global markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kijani Forestry partners with more than 50,000 smallholder farmers across Northern Uganda, helping them regenerate degraded land through community\u2011based woodlot planting. The programme has already produced more than 30 million trees, with participating farmers projected to increase household incomes by more than 600% per acre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"wj0UrF2T130\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Explainer: Understanding the Math Behind Microsoft\u2019s Commitment to Become Carbon Negative by 2030\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wj0UrF2T130?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>In 2020, Microsoft set one of the most ambitious climate targets in the corporate world: to become carbon negative by 2030. The company pledged to eliminate not only its direct emissions, but the emissions across its entire supply and value chain \u2014 and by 2050, to remove all the carbon it has ever emitted since its founding in 1975.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Quinn Neely, Kijani&#8217;s co\u2011founder and CEO, the partnership highlights the impact of long\u2011term climate finance reaching communities most exposed to climate change. Working with Rubicon Carbon, he said, enables Kijani \u201cto reach more farmers, restore more land, and accelerate climate impact,\u201d and demonstrates \u201cwhat is possible when multi\u2011year finance reaches communities on the frontlines of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Phillip Goodman, Microsoft&#8217;s Carbon Removal Director, said the company is committed to high\u2011quality nature\u2011based removals that deliver both climate and community benefits: \u201cMicrosoft is pleased to support Kijani\u2019s work in strengthening farmer livelihoods while restoring ecosystems in Northern Uganda,\u201d with Rubicon&#8217;s framework \u201cstreamlining the contracting process while ensuring project quality and unlocking financing for nature\u2011based removals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wood Central understands that Ugandan farmers will begin earning income from future CDR revenue within a year of planting. As the trees mature, they will also gain access to additional revenue streams from sustainable timber and charcoal production \u2014 a long\u2011term economic uplift that Kijani and its partners say is central to the project\u2019s climate and community impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To learn more about Microsoft&#8217;s plans for carbon capture, which include taking carbon from pulp and paper mills, <a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/microsofts-net-zero-plans-to-take-carbon-from-pulp-and-paper-mills\/\">click here for Wood Central&#8217;s special feature from April 2025.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A forest collective of 50,000 Ugandan smallholders will supply Microsoft with 2 million carbon credits over the next decade, marking a major step forward in the tech giant&#8217;s carbon removal strategy. Wood Central understands the credits will be generated through Kijani Forestry\u2019s Smallholder Farmer Forestry Project \u2014 one of the first initiatives approved under Uganda\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"default","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[80,32,46,45,44],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[69],"class_list":{"0":"post-31761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-global-news","9":"category-industry","10":"category-sustainability","11":"category-sustainable-forest-management"},"authors":[{"term_id":69,"user_id":1,"is_guest":0,"slug":"woodcentral","display_name":"Wood Central","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MASTER-BRAND-MARK_POS_RGB-e1676449549955.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MASTER-BRAND-MARK_POS_RGB-e1676449549955.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31763,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31761\/revisions\/31763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31761"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=31761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}