Pioneering the first mass timber carbon removal methodology

A working group and a concept note

At the time, the methodology was to be developed under Verra's Verified Carbon Standard. A working group of practitioners and technical experts was to draft a concept note and submit it to Verra in 2022, after which the Timber Finance Initiative and South Pole would develop the final methodology. The aim was to make the carbon held in buildings monetisable through credits and to establish timber buildings as a negative emissions technology. The announcement points to the roughly 40 percent of global CO₂ emissions that come from construction, and to up to 60 percent of the building stock being renovated or rebuilt over the next 20 years.

Wood is not only a carbon sink.

What the partners said

That was the point made by Thomas Fedrizzi, co-founder of the Timber Finance Initiative, referring to the recent recognition by the UN climate body: timber also replaces emission-intensive building materials. Aaron Fairchild of Green Canopy NODE saw mass timber homes as a chance for more durable and more affordable housing. Nicolas Roduner of South Pole wanted to monetise timber's added value, which had not been rewarded so far, and Sean Penrith of Gordian Knot Strategies saw it as the key to financing green buildings. The English version appeared on Yahoo Finance and Candorium, among others.

How Timber Carbon sees it

The path has changed since then: today, Timber Carbon works with the ICVCM-approved Rainbow Standard and its «Biobased Construction Materials» methodology, as explained on our Technology page. Timber Carbon, launched in 2026 as a spin-off of Timber Finance, quantifies, certifies and monetises the carbon removed in mass timber buildings as carbon removal credits on the voluntary carbon market. The pilot phase began in 2024, see the Lignum news item.