Anew Climate has signed a ten-year agreement with EKEN Financing Value Added Forestry that makes Anew the exclusive commercialization partner for improved forest management (IFM) carbon credits generated on EKEN's enrolled Swedish forestland. First issuances are projected for Q4 2027.

The deal anchors a specific supply pipeline: between 2027 and 2031, EKEN expects the currently enrolled forestland to generate between 30,000 and 65,000 IFM credits, subject to registration and verification. Anew will handle purchaser engagement, transaction structuring and portfolio integration for corporate buyers in Europe and internationally, giving sustainability-focused corporates direct access to Swedish IFM supply through Anew's platform. Anew frames the arrangement as an extension of its European forest carbon portfolio, which sits alongside its managed forestland holdings across North America — acreage the company counts in the millions.

The methodology behind the credits

EKEN's project is developing under Verra's VM0045 methodology for improved forest management, using dynamic matched baselines drawn from national forest inventories. VM0045 v1.2 carries a credential that matters for buyers: it is one of the first two IFM methodologies approved for the CCP label by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market. That approval status positions the credits for corporate portfolios that screen against the ICVCM's core carbon principles.

The underlying revenue model is straightforward. Landowners who defer harvest retain additional CO2 stored in standing forest; verified credits monetize that stored carbon on top of conventional timber income. EKEN founder and CEO Erik Ottosson described the mechanism as a first for Swedish forest owners.

"Verified carbon credits give Swedish forest owners something they have never had: a way to be paid for the carbon a forest holds, not only for the timber it yields," Ottosson said. "Together with Anew Climate, we are opening an international market for that."

He paired the commercial pitch with a materials outcome. "Our long-term aim is a Swedish forest economy where a greater share of what the forest produces ends up in long-lived, value-added products," he said — a framing that ties carbon finance to extended wood-product lifetimes rather than harvest suppression alone.

Supply outlook and scale variables

Two numbers define the project's near-term trajectory. The 30,000–65,000 credit range for 2027–2031 applies only to forestland currently enrolled. EKEN projects that carbon removal volumes will grow as additional landowners join the initiative, meaning the ceiling on supply depends on continued enrollment rather than fixed estate boundaries.

The Q4 2027 first-issuance date reflects the verification timeline inherent to VM0045, which requires dynamic baseline modeling against national forest inventory data before credits reach buyers. Until verification concludes, all volume figures remain projections, as EKEN itself qualifies.

Market context

The arrangement follows a broader pattern of structured, long-term IFM supply deals reaching corporate offtakers. Chestnut Carbon recently agreed to deliver improved forest management carbon removal to Royal Bank of Canada, signaling that financial institutions and corporates are contracting IFM volumes through multi-year arrangements rather than spot purchases.

For Anew, the EKEN agreement adds a Nordic supply line with CCP-eligible methodology credentials to a portfolio already spanning North American forestland. For EKEN, it resolves the distribution question — how Swedish landowners' credits reach international buyers — through a single exclusive channel for a decade.

What to watch

The decisive milestone is Q4 2027: first credit issuance under VM0045 following registration and verification. Actual verified volumes against the 30,000–65,000 projection, and the pace of new landowner enrollment, will determine whether this becomes a scalable Swedish IFM supply base or a boutique portfolio.