Microsoft contracts UNDO to deliver 28,900 tonnes of carbon removal

Silica rock is applied using standard lime-spreading equipment, which makes it easy to integrate into existing farm operations. Courtesy Photo

KINGSTON – UNDO, a global leader in enhanced rock weathering (ERW), announced today, Oct. 21 that they had come to an agreement with Microsoft to permanently remove 28,900 tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2036. The agreement will be supported by financing from Inlandsis, a Canadian climate fund managed by Fondaction Asset Management. The debt financing is structured to provide the required capital to fully deliver on this purchase and includes the ability to scale further high-integrity ERW projects globally.

Enhanced rock weathering is the acceleration of natural rock weathering, whereby the CO₂ in rainwater interacts with silicate rocks (e.g. basalt, wollastonite), mineralises and is safely stored as solid carbon for hundreds of thousands of years. To speed up this natural geological process, UNDO spreads crushed rock, sourced from the mining and quarrying industry, on agricultural land. As this mineral-rich rock breaks down, it releases nutrients, stabilises soil pH, and increases crop yield. The IPCC 2022 Mitigation of Climate Change report suggests that enhanced rock weathering, if scaled, could remove up to 4 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year – equivalent to 40 per cent of global CO₂ removal targets.

This marks UNDO’s third commercial agreement with Microsoft, extending a relationship that began in 2023 with a 5,000-tonne removal contract. the company’s first ERW deal. A second agreement in 2024 committed to 15,000 tonnes of removals while at the same time funding vital scientific research. Together, these three purchases bring Microsoft’s total ERW commitment with UNDO to nearly 49,000 tonnes of durable carbon removal, confirming Microsoft’s confidence in ERW as a scalable, science-backed pathway to climate impact.

“Innovative financing is the catalyst for unlocking gigatonne-scale carbon removal,” added Jim Mann, Founder and CEO at UNDO. “The support of Inlandsis shows how financial backers can help transform carbon removal into a genuine asset class – one that is scalable, tradable, and investable. By combining financial innovation, strategic partnerships and bleeding-edge science, UNDO is accelerating deployment and delivering both climate and agricultural benefits in Ontario and beyond.”

David Moffat is the Managing Director at Inlandsis. “Inlandsis is very pleased to provide capital to this strategic and innovative deal, helping to strengthen the growing relationship between Microsoft and UNDO while advancing the critical fight against climate change,” said Moffat. “This collaboration marks several milestones for us – our first investment in an ERW project and the first Canadian investment for our second fund – and highlights our commitment to advancing carbon finance across Canada and beyond.”

Established in 2017, the Inlandsis Fund is a decarbonization fund that finances GHG reduction and sequestration projects, while generating high-quality carbon credits. Initially supported by Fondaction, based in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, and later joined by Priori-T Capital, Inlandsis is the first Canadian carbon finance fund, and one of the few of its kind worldwide, that generates returns for its investors by leveraging carbon markets to finance greenhouse gas emission reduction and removal projects.

“Enhanced rock weathering is a promising pathway to gigatonne-scale carbon removal,” commented Phillip Goodman, Director, Carbon Removal Portfolio at Microsoft. “UNDO’s commitment to scientific rigour gives us confidence in both the durability of these credits and their role in helping Microsoft achieve its goal of being carbon negative by 2030.”

With the backing of leading brands such as Barclays, British Airways and McLaren, UNDO is well-positioned to spread millions of tonnes of mineral-rich silicate rock annually – an important step towards the billion-tonne scale needed to meet the urgent climate challenge.

UNDO is a pioneering nature-based carbon dioxide removal company with an ambition to remove over one billion tonnes of atmospheric CO₂ in accessible, affordable, nature-friendly ways. Since 2022, UNDO has worked at the cutting edge of science alongside experts in the climate, carbon and agricultural sectors to develop an enhanced rock weathering technology which accelerates natural weathering processes to remove carbon from the atmosphere while bringing soil and crop benefits to agricultural communities. The UNDO operational, scientific and technical model leverages existing infrastructure, with a carbon efficiency of greater than 90 per cent, allowing UNDO to quickly scale operations whilst offering carbon removal at competitive prices.