ClimateTicker

Living Carbon

40Mixed / Improving· Provisional
0 followersNature-based solutions·San Francisco, California, USA·Founded 2019
www.livingcarbon.com/

US public-benefit biotech reforestation company developing photosynthesis-enhanced trees claimed to grow faster and capture more carbon, partnering with landowners on VCM projects in the US South and mid-Atlantic.

40/100
Mixed / Improving· Provisional

ClimateTicker Green Score · how it's calculated

Greenwashing risk: highData confidence: low

Why it's on ClimateTicker

Living Carbon is a US public-benefit biotech that engineers photosynthesis-enhanced and metal-hyperaccumulating trees to grow faster and sequester more carbon, then monetizes reforestation projects via voluntary carbon market credits. The core premise is scientifically plausible but rests heavily on a 2022 preprint (not peer-reviewed journal publication) claiming 53% more biomass in controlled-environment experiments, with real-world field performance yet to be independently validated at scale. Investors should treat this as an early-stage, high-upside/high-uncertainty climate bet rather than a proven carbon-removal engine.

mitigationLiving Carbon partners with landowners to plant enhanced trees on degraded or underutilized land, then generates and sells carbon credits through registries such as the American Carbon Registry (ACR); it also sells seedlings directly to corporations seeking to reduce their carbon footprint.

Commitments & Certifications

other: Carbon credits issued via ACR registry ↗PublicBenefit: Incorporated as PBC ↗

Controversy & Greenwashing Watch

mediumEnhanced-tree marketing vs. conventional-tree-dominated plantings

MIT Technology Review found that Living Carbon's first commercial carbon-credit planting in Georgia consisted overwhelmingly of conventional trees despite being marketed on the strength of its photosynthesis-enhanced technology, with the company attributing the composition to ACR registry standards.source ↗

mediumCore efficacy claims based on unreviewed preprint, not peer-reviewed data

The flagship claim of 53% more biomass growth was published as a bioRxiv preprint and a company whitepaper, neither of which has undergone independent peer review, leaving the scientific basis for the product's carbon premium unverified.source ↗

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