Paris-based Equitable Earth (formerly ERS), a provider of certification for nature-based carbon projects, has closed a €12.6 million Series A funding round to accelerate the expansion of its certification programme.
The round was led by a US-based family office and supported by existing investors, including AENU, noa and Localglobe, bringing the total funding to over €25 million.
“Equitable Earth continues to focus on enabling organisations to protect and restore the natural world by certifying projects in a trusted, scalable way. This new round of funding allows us to continue to grow and establish ourselves as the global standard for nature-based projects,” said Thibault Sorret, CEO of Equitable Earth.
Equitable Earth was founded in 2020 and claims that its programme has been formally recognised as eligible against the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM)’s Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), the market’s highest benchmark for quality.
According to the company, its model is designed to ensure climate finance reaches threatened ecosystems more quickly and reliably. Its digital certification platform streamlines the project journey and enables developers to progress efficiently. Carbon accounting and risk modelling are managed in-house through its centralised and standardised accounting. It also deploys tools for transparent and cost-effective monitoring and reporting.
The platform requires projects to demonstrate measurable benefits for climate, nature, and local communities through a structured, interconnected approach. Another key component of its model is community engagement, which involves establishing measurable requirements for participation, protection, and equitable benefit sharing with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
“The carbon markets need scalable, reliable projects that deliver real climate, ecological, and social outcomes. This funding helps Equitable Earth to meet that demand, cementing its position as a market leader in high-integrity, nature-based certification,” said Arjun Jairaj, investor at noa, Europe’s largest built world VC.
The fresh capital will be used to enhance technology and tools, including data systems, modelling, and user-centric tools to enable faster, more transparent certification in one integrated platform.
In addition, the company plans to expand its research and development, engineering, commercial, and certification teams. It also intends to certify millions of additional hectares, increasing the global supply of nature-based credits, as well as build new methodologies to cover more threatened ecosystems.
Last year, in July, Ecosystem Restoration Standard (ERS) announced its rebrand as Equitable Earth, forming a unified global standard for both forest conservation and restoration on the carbon markets.
The rebrand followed ERS’s acquisition of Equitable Earth, a forest carbon standard developed by a global coalition of more than 125 experts from 60 organisations, including Indigenous leaders, scientists, policymakers, and civil society representatives. Equitable Earth was designed to combat deforestation and support the protection of the world’s forests by ensuring fair and meaningful investment in the people and communities responsible for their stewardship.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/01/paris-based-equitable-earth-raises-e12-6-million-to-become-the-global-standard-for-nature-based-carbon-projects/
