Virtus: Climate Finance at Midyear

Welcome to the June edition of our Virtus newsletter!

As we hit the halfway mark of 2025, carbon and climate finance markets are revealing clear signals — and subtle shifts — that will define the road to COP30 in Brazil.

In Our Take, Jay unpacks the second quarter’s key trends across our IMPACT pillars —  from surging demand for high-integrity credits and tightening regulatory frameworks, to deepening price stratification and global momentum on Article 6 implementation.

On the podcast Untangling Climate Finance, Jay sat down with Eric Wei, Carbon Credit Program Director at the Global Water Center. Eric shared how carbon finance is unlocking safe drinking water access in underserved communities.

In What We’re Absorbing, we explore new frameworks and tools reshaping how countries and companies engage with carbon markets and biodiversity: Gold Standard’s Nature Responsibility Framework, the World Bank’s Country Guidance for Navigating Carbon Markets, and Perennial’s blueprint for adaptable, project-specific soil carbon monitoring.

And in Climate Finance Deals, we highlight a range of market-defining moves — Apple’s carbon credit retirement from Guyana, CAF’s €100 million Blue Bond for coastal resilience, and Indonesia’s groundbreaking Coral Reef Bond for marine protected areas.

Onward!

Gordian Knot Strategies

We are Igniting Climate Solutions: Mobilizing $1 Billion Per Year in Impact Investment by 2030!

Sean and Jay were honored to join the Savory Foundation’s Advisors & Experts Retreat in Quinta do Freixo, Portugal last week. The energy was inspiring — a gathering of passionate, mission-driven people working to shape the Foundation’s next chapter as it evolves into a catalytic force for global regeneration. The goal? Unlocking large-scale capital to restore 50 million hectares of grassland by 2030. It was an impactful few days filled with insight, collaboration, and momentum — and we’re grateful to be part of the journey!

As we pass the halfway point of 2025, carbon markets are deep into a transition that confirms many of our early-year forecasts. Across the IMPACT pillars – Integrity, Momentum, Prices, Achievement, Collaboration, and Targets – Q2 delivered meaningful developments and clear signals for what lies ahead in Q3, particularly as the world prepares for COP30 in Brazil.

I = INTEGRITY

Integrity remains the backbone of carbon market evolution. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) advanced its efforts to operationalize the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), with market participants increasingly retiring legacy methodologies and turning to credits that align with updated standards.

Although implementation is gradual, the shift is unmistakable – buyers are prioritizing credits rated by trusted agencies and are willing to pay premiums for high-integrity credits with verified co-benefits. This aligns with insights from Ecosystem Marketplace and Sylvera, which highlight the growing correlation between price and quality.

Meanwhile, corporate actors continue to grapple with uncertainty around the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as it delays guidance on the role of offsets in meeting Scope 3 emissions targets – a delay that’s keeping buyers cautious and markets unsettled.

Finally, integrity enforcement is tightening. A report from the London School of Economics revealed a global spike in legal challenges targeting companies for overstated or misleading emissions claims, underlining the mounting pressure for transparency and accountability in the voluntary carbon market.

To read the rest of this paper, click here.

Client Served in the United States:

In 2022, we were enlisted to support a US-base groups efforts to establish an impact investment fund that would appeal to impact investors seeking both returns and carbon credit volumes. The aim of the fund structure was to tap into the surge of interest in investment vehicles that can deliver both fiscal and credit returns in light of the growth in the voluntary carbon market.

“Gordian Knot Strategies’ work on the financial model for our program allowed us for the first time to chart a viable course to implement and scale the program. Before working with GKS, we had a good idea with no way to implement. Now we have a much more concrete road map.”

Nathan Truitt – Executive Vice President, Climate Funding, American Forest Foundation

🎙️ In this episode, Eric Wei, Carbon Credit Program Director at the Global Water Center (GWC), explores how carbon finance is unlocking safe drinking water access in underserved communities. He discusses GWC’s innovative approach to water-based carbon credits, the launch of their Carbon Aggregation Platform, and how climate finance can move beyond grants to fund resilient, long-term infrastructure.

Click any of the links below to listen!

Below is a curated selection of standout opportunities brought to you by GKS’s valued clients.

ReSeed: Agriculture Carbon Credits

ReSeed partners with smallholder farmers globally, helping to improve livelihoods, protect vital lands, and ensure ecosystem services are properly recognized and rewarded. Through these efforts, ReSeed generates agricultural carbon credits that drive sustainability. Click here to explore their projects.

Savory Foundation: Carbon Removal Credits – Uruguay Grasslands Regeneration Project

The Savory Foundation along with the Savory Institute, Pampa Oriental, and Cultivo are now offering nature-based carbon removal credits from their Uruguay Grasslands Regeneration Project. This groundbreaking project spans 115,00 hectares, employing Savory’s Holistic Management framework to restore grasslands while supporting local communities and ecosystems.

The project, under Verra’s VM0032 Methodology for Sustainable Grasslands, anticipates an annual issuance of around 152,000 credits, beginning in 2026, and addresses the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, 13: Climate Action, 15: Life of Land, and 17: Partnership for the Goals.

To learn more about this project and its impact, click here.

If you want to connect about the project, email us here.

This month, we explored new frameworks and tools advancing nature accountability, carbon market strategy, and soil carbon monitoring.

✍️ Gold Standard has released a new discussion paper titled the “Nature Responsibility Framework, introduced at its Climate Action for People and Nature.” The Framework aims to guide companies in taking accountability for their nature-related impacts by offering five key areas of responsibility and practical actions. It draws on the work of global leaders like WWF, SBTN, and TNFD, and complements Gold Standard’s climate mitigation framework. The tool is designed to help businesses navigate the complex landscape of nature-related commitments and begin, or deepen, their journey toward protecting and restoring biodiversity.

✍️ The World Bank Group has published “Country Guidance for Navigating Carbon Markets,” a practical tool designed to help host countries develop strategic, well-informed approaches to engaging in international carbon markets. Building on the earlier Navigating Decisions in Carbon Markets framework, this seven-module guide explores key questions, decision points, and trade-offs to support countries in mobilizing climate finance while managing associated risks. Co-developed with partners including UNDP, GGGI, GIZ, ICVCM, and others, the publication also addresses gaps in capacity-building efforts and fosters greater alignment across the global carbon market landscape.

✍️ In a detailed guidance piece, Perennial published “Adaptable MMRV — Delivering the Best Monitoring Approach for Each Project,” which outlines its flexible, project-specific approach to MMRV (Measurement, Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification) for soil carbon across croplands and grazing lands. Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all solution, Perennial recommends using digital soil mapping, biogeochemical modeling, or traditional measure–remeasure — based on data availability, project stage, and regional factors. Central to their strategy is the ATLAS-SOC model, a high-accuracy digital tool that drastically reduces uncertainty and sampling burden. This adaptable approach empowers project developers to scale regenerative agriculture and carbon credit generation with greater efficiency and integrity.

This month, we saw climate finance deals spanning voluntary carbon markets, blue bonds, and innovative outcome-based conservation financing, highlighting momentum in nature-based and ocean-focused climate solutions.

Apple Buys US $1.5 Million Worth of Carbon Credits From Guyana

Apple Inc. has purchased and retired 100,000 carbon credits from Guyana’s Jurisdictional Forest Carbon Credit Program at a cost of approximately US$1.5 million (GYD314 million). These credits, representing legacy carbon from 2019, were acquired at US$15 each and cannot be resold, reinforcing Apple’s ongoing climate neutrality commitment. Guyana’s REDD+ program, covering 85% of the country’s forested land, has positioned the nation as a global leader in sustainable forest management. Proceeds from such deals have been reinvested into local and Indigenous communities to support low-carbon development.

CAF Issues Landmark €100 Million Blue Bond with UNDP as Technical Coordinator

CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean – issued its first Blue Bond, raising EUR 100 million to fund sustainable coastal and marine projects across the region. Structured by BNP Paribas and coordinated technically by the UNDP, the 5-year bond will finance initiatives in countries like Brazil and Ecuador, focusing on marine ecosystem protection and climate resilience. This issuance marks the first under CAF’s updated 2025 Sustainable Finance Framework and aligns with global Blue Finance standards. It underscores a growing MDB–UN partnership model to scale impact-driven, SDG-aligned finance for the blue economy.

Indonesia Launches World’s First Coral Reef Outcome Bond to Boost MPA Conservation

Indonesia has launched the world’s first outcome-based Coral Reef Bond to finance marine protected areas (MPAs), aiming to enhance coral reef health across 1.9 million hectares of critical habitat. The bond links investor returns to verified conservation results, measured by increased reef fish biomass — a key indicator of reef health. Backed by the World Bank, GEF, BNP Paribas, and IUCN, the initiative supports Indonesia’s goal to conserve 40% of its coral and seagrass ecosystems while attracting private finance to global climate and biodiversity goals. This pioneering model could pave the way for replicable, results-based blue financing worldwide.

Interested in connecting with us on climate finance, impact investment, climate solutions strategy, or carbon credit development and commercialization? Book a 30-minute conversation with Gordian Knot Strategies here to discuss how we can support your goals.

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