How a big ‘carbon credits’ purchase from Netflix leads to more trees planted in Georgia

Caption

A Georgia farm prepares new tree plantings through the Fields and Forests project, funded in part by Netflix’s carbon credit investment.

Credit: American Forest Foundation

The streaming giant signed a 15-year deal with the American Forest Foundation to fund new forests on family farmland in the Southeast by buying carbon credits from the Fields and Forests project.

The Fields and Forest project partners with family landowners in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida to transition underutilized land into working forests, according to Nicole Goodman, director of communications for the American Forest Foundation.

That transition means more trees get planted. The money from the carbon credit purchases is what funds the planting of new forests. Netflix pays for the credits, and the American Forest Foundation uses that money to cover site preparation, tree planting and landowner payments.

“This land is my only connection to my grandma, and I want it to provide for my daughter as she grows up,” said Alisha Logue, a Georgia landowner enrolled in the project. “Fields and Forests has given me a way to protect and ensure my family’s legacy.”

What is a carbon credit, and why is Netflix buying them? A carbon credit is a certificate representing one metric ton of carbon dioxide that is either prevented from being released or is removed from the atmosphere, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission.

In this case, it’s being removed from the atmosphere as trees soak up carbon. Companies buy these credits to offset some of their own pollution, essentially paying someone else to reduce or remove carbon from the atmosphere on their behalf, according to the EPA’s website.

Netflix’s investment will help launch the first 6,000 acres of repurposed land and expand the project across the region, according to Goodman.

“Netflix’s partnership shows what’s possible when business and nature come together. With the right investment and science, natural climate solutions can be both a powerful and credible tool to address our most pressing conservation challenges.” said John Ringer, senior director of project finance and environmental markets at AFF. “We’re grateful for Netflix’s leadership, and we invite other companies to follow their lead by investing in new approaches that support America’s rural communities and family-owned forests.” 

Netflix provided critical early-stage financing for Fields and Forests through milestone prepayments. Money goes out as the project meets milestones, starting with launching the first 6,000 acres.

So far, 2,500 acres are enrolled, 1.4 million new trees are set to be planted and $2 million is committed to landowners in the form of direct payments.

“F&F is designed for small-acreage landowners who have historically been locked out of the voluntary carbon market due to high upfront costs and programmatic complexity,” the media release reads.

By 2032, the Fields and Forests program aims to enroll 75,000 acres, generating an estimated 4.8 million carbon credits while providing income to family landowners across the U.S. South, with plans to expand even further.

To qualify, landowners must have at least 30 acres of open fields in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina, where the land has not been forested for at least 10 years, and agree to a 30-year enrollment, according to the Family Forest Carbon Program’s website.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Telegraph in Macon, Ga.