About This Article
Welcome to our monthly update on the voluntary carbon market. This month, we delve into the world of carbon credit retirements, highlighting significant activities and noteworthy trends we've observed in April 2025.
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Retirement Records For This Month
Let’s dive into records for this month!
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Please note that:
The dataset only includes records from the following voluntary carbon credit registries, which are publicly available on their website: American Carbon Registry (ACR), ART TREES (ART), Climate Action Reserve (CAR), Gold Standard (GLD), and Verra (VCS).
We have only included records where the retirement quantity is equal to or greater than 1,000 tonnes of CO2e.
The company assigned to each retirement record was determined based on the information present in each individual note.
Sector information is categorized in reference to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) to align each entry with the most likely respective industry.
Key Takeaways
May 2025 showcased massive retirement volumes, dominated by a few key players in the Energy and Technology sectors. Here are some of the most significant activities:
Civitas Resources, Inc. Makes Monumental Retirements: The US-based energy producer, Civitas Resources, Inc., was by far the most active entity this month, retiring well over 750,000 tonnes of CO2e across more than 20 separate transactions. These retirements were all made to offset their "2024 Scope 1 GHG Emissions." Highlights include:
100,000 tonnes from the CAR621 Kimble Sanitary Landfill Gas Project (US, Vintage 2021).
100,000 tonnes from the ACR648 Hudson Technologies HFC Reclamation Project (US, Vintage 2020).
82,950 tonnes from the CAR790 Bi-County Landfill Gas Destruction Project (US, Vintage 2021).
This represents one of the largest single-company offsetting efforts we've tracked in a single month.
Tech and Mobility Giant Grab Continues Large-Scale Offsetting: The Grab family of companies (GrabCar, Grab Cambodia) retired a combined total of over 450,000 tonnes. The vast majority of these credits came from the VCS1650 Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary project in Cambodia (Vintages 2020 & 2021) and VCS1477 Katingan Peatland Restoration and Conservation Project in Indonesia. This continues to demonstrate their commitment to their "Carbon Offset Initiative 2024."
Major Brands and Industrials Show Their Hand: Several globally recognized companies made significant retirements:
Microsoft Corporation: Retired 60,000 tonnes from the CAR1459 Indigo U.S. Project No.1 (US, Agriculture, Vintage 2022/2023), showing continued investment in soil carbon projects.
Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG: The German retail giant retired over 150,000 tonnes from a diverse portfolio of energy efficiency projects, primarily improved cookstoves and safe water projects in India, Malawi, and Eritrea.
thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG: Retired over 34,000 tonnes from the VCS2065 Renewable Energy Power Projects by Atria Power (India, Vintage 2021) for "offsetting product emissions 2024."
Lenovo: Retired 36,919 tonnes from the CAR1480 Phlogiston Phase I project (US, GHG Management, Vintage 2022) as part of their program "On behalf of Lenovo Clients," highlighting the trend of tech companies offering carbon offsetting as a service.
Compliance-Driven Retirements: ENERGY Joburg RF (PTY) Ltd made a single, massive retirement of 190,308 tonnes from the VCS1240 Joburg Landfill Gas to Energy Project. The retirement note specifies this is for utilization under the "South African Carbon Tax Act," a clear example of how national regulations are driving activity in the voluntary market.
Utilities Offset Customer Consumption: German utility Städtische Werke AG retired over 120,000 tonnes from the VCS788 China Guangdong Shenzhen Qianwan LNG generation project to offset emissions from their customers' natural gas consumption in 2024.
Summary charts on amounts retired sorted by sector and country are below:
Amount retired in May. 2025 by sector and country
If you are a subscriber, you can find a complete list of retirement records with the project information for this month, as well as a chart of the top companies that retired the most credits, in the Google Spreadsheet at the bottom of this article.
Downloading and copy-pasting are disabled even for subscribers. If you want to download the file, please purchase Excel file from the link below:
The dataset includes:
General company information
Company Name (who most likely retired the credit based on the retirement note)
Country of the company
URL
Sector (GICS Code base)
Industry Group (GICS Code base)
Company Description
Retirement record
Project ID
Quantity
Retirement Account (CAR, ACR, ART) / Retirement Beneficiary (VCS, GLD)
Retirement Note
Retirement Reason
Transaction Date
Transaction Type
Vintage
Project information about the retired credit
Project Category
Project Country
Project's First Issuance
Project's First Retirement
Total Amount Issued
Project Name
Project URL
Project Proponent
Project protocol
Total Amount Retired
Status
Below is a link to the dataset for subscribers and top companies that retired credits.
Amount retired in May. 2025 by company
Stay Informed
The world of carbon credits is constantly evolving, so we'll continue to provide regular updates, insights and analysis as it happens.
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Disclaimer
The information provided in this carbon credit retirement database is intended for informational purposes only. While we strive to ensure the accuracy of the data, we cannot guarantee its completeness or correctness. The data is compiled from publicly available sources and may be subject to errors, omissions, or updates not yet reflected in our records.
No Warranty: The information provided is "as is" without any warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.
Reliance: Any reliance you place on the information provided is strictly at your own risk. We recommend that you verify the data from other reliable sources before making any decisions based on the content of this database.
Independent Judgment: Users should exercise their own independent judgment when interpreting and using the information in this database. We are not responsible for any actions, consequences, or losses that may result from your use of this data.
Interpretation of Data: The analysis presented in the newsletter is based on our independent assessment of available information, and may not align with the viewpoints of other parties.
Registry Scope: Note that the dataset is limited to the following voluntary carbon credit registries: American Carbon Registry (ACR), ART TREES (ART), Climate Action Reserve (CAR), Gold Standard (GLD), and Verra (VCS). Retirements from other registries are not included in this analysis.
Data Aggregation: The aggregation of data, including identification of retiring companies and classification of sector information, is based on our interpretation of available notes and alignment with GICS codes. These interpretations are based on our own discretion and may be subject to varying perspectives.
Limitation of Liability: In no event will we, our employees, or partners be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to, loss of profits, data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from your use or inability to use the data, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Changes: The database and newsletter may be subject to updates, modifications, or removal at any time without prior notice. We will do our best to ensure accurate representation of current retirement data, but assume no obligation to update data after each publication.
By accessing or using the provided database and information, you agree to the terms of this disclaimer.