Offset Portfolio: Pachama
About Pachama
Project Location: Peru, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil
Offset Type: Forestry
Pachama uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to accurately measure carbon captured in forests, a process that has traditionally been labor-intensive and inconsistent. Pachama’s technology remotely monitors and verifies forests, providing increased accuracy and transparency for purchasers.
Why Forestry?
Trees inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. They store carbon in their mass as they grow - one of nature’s natural carbon storage technologies. Recent research shows global forests store about 30% of all annual human CO₂ emissions.
Read our Forestry 101 Primer →
Carbon Offset Evaluation
Forests have enormous potential for capturing and storing carbon, but it’s difficult to verify and enforce forestry projects, and to ensure your dollars are actually causing them to happen.
We picked projects with Pachama because they supplement documentation and verification of a third-party organization with its own remote sensing analysis to calculate the additional carbon benefit of the project, measuring biomass and comparing the results of their analysis to the volume of carbon credits being offered by the project.
The Commons community is supporting projects that work with local communities to protect rainforests in the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon, as well as in Papua New Guinea. By supporting multiple projects, we reduce the risk of natural disaster in any one.
Read our full evaluation for more details →
Commons' Community Impact
The Commons community has supported Pachama projects since 2020, including on in Peru, one in Brazil, and one in Papua New Guinea.
Our demand for new projects, alongside that of other buyers, has resulted in both projects selling out of their carbon credit supply. As a result, the owners are able to command higher prices for their carbon credits in the next vintage (in some cases, as much as 33-50% higher), moving closer to true costs of carbon.
Furthermore, Pachama is commanding enough demand to originate new forestry projects themselves, expanding the supply of meaningful forestry projects. As the Commons community grows, we’re also able to have a stronger voice as a buyer in requesting more evidence of community engagement and benefits from these projects on an ongoing basis. We’re excited to continue to support protection and restoration of natural carbon sinks with Pachama.
Commons' Offset Portfolio
Supporting carbon offsets can be a powerful way to invest in green technologies and protect natural ecosystems. But they aren’t a silver bullet – each project has a unique set of risks.
With the Commons Offset Portfolio, we do the work to maximize your impact. Just as you wouldn’t put all your money into one stock – we don’t put all your dollars into a single offset project.
