SEFE to buy about 6 million forest carbon credits from Gabon

SEFE, Germany's state-owned energy company, agreed to buy about 6 million tons of forest carbon credits from Gabon, with delivery due no later than the first quarter of 2027.

The Gabonese Agency for the Development of the Green Economy signed the agreement on behalf of the government and confirmed the sale Tuesday. The government describes it as Africa's first sale of sovereign forest carbon credits, meaning credits sold by a national government rather than by a project developer.

Allocators marking voluntary carbon positions get a dated delivery obligation and a sovereign seller, but no price to mark against, because financial terms were not disclosed.

The credits are certified under ART-TREES, a standard for national-scale forest carbon credits, and are eligible under CORSIA, the offsetting scheme for international aviation, according to ESG News. Gabon's High Forest, Low Deforestation status means the credits cover preservation of existing forest rather than new planting.

Proceeds will be held in a dedicated account until Gabon's regulatory framework for distributing them takes effect. That framework will also set how the money reaches local communities.

For SEFE, the purchase provides CORSIA-eligible supply it could sell to airlines. For Gabon, it turns preserved forest into revenue from a named European buyer with a fixed delivery deadline.