Donor-funded forest carbon trading scheme for multinational giants has not yet produced a single sale

News August 14, 2025 / By: Ann Danaiya Usher

The LEAF carbon trading scheme established by Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States aimed to rapidly raise billions of dollars in forest financing from multinational companies like Amazon, Nestlé, and Bayer. Well into its fifth year, it has not yet produced a single sale and is mired in problems. Norway has committed billions of crowns to the LEAF set-up, but in the wake of massive aid cuts, neither the UK nor the US government confirms continued support for the initiative.

LEAF Barth Eide Kerry - 50 years KLD - May 12 2022 Ken Opprann.jpg — **That was then**: In May 2022, one year after the launch of the LEAF Coalition, then President Biden’s Climate Envoy John Kerry (right) visited Oslo to mark the Norwegian Climate Ministry’s 50-year anniversary, with then Norwegian Climate Minister Espen Barth Eide (Photo: Ken Opprann / Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment)

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Donor-funded forest carbon trading scheme for multinational giants has not yet produced a single sale

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