CO2 Credits 2025: Who used the most?
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The market for CO2 credits is undergoing a fundamental shift.
It is no longer about sheer quantity (tonnage), which has become an "outdated metric", but about the quality and permanence of CO2 sequestration. This shift is also opening up a new, forward-looking asset class for private investors.
Which company used the most CO2 credits in 2025?
The answer depends entirely on whether you look at retirements or future contracts (offtakes). Here are the key strategies of the top players:
1. The Volume Kings (Retirements)
Shell remains the largest single retirer of credits, neutralizing 9.75 million tonnes in 2025.
While their volume is down from 2024, they dominate the spot market, primarily using nature-based solutions (REDD+) to meet immediate corporate targets, offer "carbon-neutral" fuels (LNG and retail gasoline), and address Scope 1 and 2 operational emissions.
Following project quality concerns several years ago, Shell is gradually shifting its portfolio towards removals and carbon projects carrying higher-rated integrity labels.
2. The Compliance "Hybrid" Buyers
You may be surprised to find companies like Primax (Colombia) or Guacolda Energía (Chile) in the Top 10.
These companies are not simply acting "green" for image purposes — they are using voluntary credits to offset 50% to 100% of their national mandatory carbon taxes, effectively using the carbon market as a regulatory shield.
This illustrates how demand is increasingly being driven by regulations that price CO2 and compel emitters to pay for it.
3. The Customer-Led Model
Lenovo is among the companies offering a "CO2 Offset Service" at checkout.
In doing so, they have turned tens of millions of laptop sales into a significant aggregate credit demand, specifically targeting the embodied carbon of their hardware.
4. The Market Maker (Future Contracts)
Microsoft is the undisputed heavyweight of Carbon Removal and has played a key role in the emergence of the engineered removal segment.
The company recently announced a pause on new commitments in this area for a portfolio strategy review, while continuing its nature-based investments.
Their strategy: shifting from spot purchases to long-term offtakes — essentially financing the next generation of carbon removals, whether from nature or capture technology.
Because Microsoft is primarily buying for the future, they do not appear in the Top 10 list of credits retired in 2025.
Is the tonne dead?
If you are analyzing the market between 2024 and 2026, tonnage alone is an outdated metric — like comparing a high-speed car with a worn-out bicycle. The unit "tonne" on its own is important, but no longer a sufficient measure. It tells you nothing about the quality or permanence of CO2 sequestration per credit.
The relevant metrics we focus on at Planet2050:
Avoidance vs. Removal: Is the company simply preventing trees from being cut down, or actively removing CO2 from the atmosphere? Retiring 1 million tonnes of avoided CO₂e cannot be equated with 1 million tonnes bound for millennia through capture technology.
Weighted Carbon Value: Price × Tonnes. Investing $50M in high-durability removals carries a higher market impact than $50M spent on cheap legacy credits.
Integrity Ratio: With the ICVCM's Core Carbon Principles now fully in effect, the integrity premium is real. Buyers like JPMorgan are prioritizing quality over raw volume to mitigate reputational risk.
Offtake vs. Spot: It is important to distinguish between impact that has already occurred and been used for claims in a given reporting year, and contracted carbon for future vintages — valuable for reading market direction, but not yet delivered or available for current-year claims.
This is how we prioritize projects at Planet2050:
More removal projects than avoidance projects
Integrity over volume
Financing future projects (through equity or offtake) rather than spot transactions
The bottom line
The market has split. The energy sector leads in volume (covering legacy emissions), while the tech sector leads in value (building the infrastructure for future removals).
Forward-thinkers need capital: Companies building long-term portfolios are placing their bets today by locking in the future supply of next-generation projects: those using the latest methodologies, digital monitoring, highly permanent methods, and recognised integrity labels.
Who is financing these projects today? Perhaps you — by becoming a shareholder at Planet2050! More information here.