• 14 projects assessed: BeZero Carbon has published ex ante ratings covering Microsoft-backed carbon removal projects across four sectors and four countries.
• Due diligence moves earlier: The reports assess carbon integrity, execution risk and wider environmental and community impacts before credits are issued.
• Market-wide relevance: Buyers, investors and project developers can use the assessments as a benchmark for procurement, financing and project design.

BeZero Carbon has published 14 independent ex ante ratings of projects reviewed through Microsoft’s carbon removal diligence process, offering an unusually detailed look at how a major corporate buyer assesses carbon credit risk before issuance.

The reports cover improved forest management, soil carbon, biochar and agroforestry projects across the United States, Argentina, India and Peru. BeZero described the collection as one of the most comprehensive published analyses of a single buyer’s carbon removal portfolio.

The release comes as carbon markets face rising pressure to prove environmental integrity before projects begin issuing credits. Buyers are also looking beyond headline removal volumes to additionality, permanence, delivery risk and community impacts.

For Microsoft, that scrutiny carries considerable financial and climate implications. The company aims to become carbon negative by 2030 and remove the equivalent of its historical emissions by 2050. It contracted more than 45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide removal in fiscal 2025 alone.

Carbon diligence moves upstream

Each assessment is an ex ante rating, meaning it evaluates projects before credit issuance rather than relying only on performance after credits reach the market.

BeZero’s carbon risk analysis examines additionality, carbon accounting and permanence. Its project execution analysis looks at operational and delivery risks that could affect whether expected credits are ultimately issued.

Some reports also include assessments of wider environmental and community risks and benefits. Microsoft’s Carbon Removal team worked with BeZero’s Beyond Carbon experts to develop the approach, which has since been incorporated into BeZero’s broader offering.

That additional layer reflects a growing governance challenge in carbon procurement. A tonne of contracted removal may satisfy a purchasing target on paper, but investors and corporate buyers increasingly need evidence that projects can deliver the promised climate outcome without creating material social or environmental risks.

Microsoft already publishes its own Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal. The use of independent assessments adds another layer of scrutiny to those internal procurement standards.

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A benchmark across different project types

The 14 projects offer a cross-section of nature-based and technology-based carbon removal approaches.

BeZero’s science team assessed projects ranging from US forestry and South American soil carbon to biochar operations in Peru. The work involved expertise across forestry, carbon removal, soils and geospatial analysis.

The diversity matters because carbon risk varies significantly by project type. Forest projects face questions around permanence and baseline assumptions. Soil carbon projects depend heavily on measurement and changing land management practices. Biochar projects involve different operational, feedstock and accounting risks.

Publishing comparable assessments across these categories could give investors and corporate buyers a clearer framework for evaluating opportunities that otherwise rely on very different methodologies.

The reports can also help project developers understand the standards being applied by one of the largest buyers of carbon removal.

What investors and corporate buyers can take away

For carbon market participants, the value of the release extends beyond Microsoft’s portfolio.

Investors can use the assessments to identify operational and integrity risks before providing capital. Advisers and marketplaces can incorporate similar factors into procurement processes. Corporate buyers can compare prospective projects against independently reviewed examples.

That could become increasingly important as carbon markets expand under a mix of voluntary standards, national policies and emerging regulatory frameworks.

Full reports are available to more than 1,000 users of the BeZero Carbon Markets platform. BeZero’s roughly 10,000 freemium subscribers can access headline ratings and project execution risk scores.

The publication also opens part of a diligence process that has traditionally remained private between buyers, advisers and developers.

For the wider market, that transparency may prove as important as the individual project scores. Corporate climate strategies increasingly depend on carbon removal contracts that stretch years into the future. Investors therefore need greater visibility into whether those projects can deliver.

As demand for durable carbon removal grows, pre-issuance scrutiny is becoming a core part of carbon market governance. Microsoft and BeZero’s published assessments provide one reference point for how that scrutiny can be applied across technologies, geographies and project structures.