VARO Energy, a major player in Europe’s fuel supply chain, has acquired a 51% stake in SilviCarbon, a global leader in nature-based Carbon Dioxide Removals (CDRs).
This acquisition comes as part the energy company’s commitment to offer comprehensive solutions to its customers to help them meet their carbon emission reduction targets.

“VARO’s investment in SilviCarbon is one of many steps in our plan to tackle the challenge of climate change head on as we navigate the energy transition,” stated Roger Brown, VARO Energy CEO. “This addition to our portfolio is a reflection of our commitment to offering affordable and sustainable energy solutions to the market.”

Speaking about how SilviCarbon will play an important role in the emerging net-zero carbon landscape, co-founder, Michael Knap, said, “In order to reach a net-zero carbon emission position for a company or society at large in the future, it will be necessary to remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere now and for the foreseeable future. Developing sustainably managed forests will provide a critical tool to achieve this.”

SilviCarbon selects nature-based carbon removal projects of the highest quality standard, typically certified under FSC for their forestry practices and Verra, Gold Standard or alternative carbon standards for their carbon and climate benefits. In addition, biodiversity, environmental & social sustainability will be addressed through CCB (Climate Community Biodiversity) or similar certification.

What are nature-based CDRs?
Nature-based CDR's leverage large-scale forestry, agro-forestry and agricultural solutions that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in a steadily increasing volume of living biomass, like trees, living soil, root systems and undergrowth.

There is an increasingly large potential to convert segments of degraded land into large-scale plantations and agro-forestry projects that improve local biodiversity, and create long-lasting social and economic benefits. Planting 100,000 ha of forest will remove and store 20m tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, which is equal to the emissions from 4 million cars over a year. It will also generate thousands of jobs, improve biodiversity, avoid deforestation, and lay a solid foundation for the bio-based economy.

About VARO

VARO Energy (“VARO”) is an energy company operating throughout the complete downstream fuel supply chain with refining, storage, blending, distribution, sales and marketing assets. It safely delivers high-quality fuels from fossil and renewable sources to its many national and international business customers and end-consumers.

The company owns a refinery in Cressier, Switzerland, a majority share in the Bayernoil refinery, Southern Germany, as well as storage facilities, distribution and marketing businesses in Benelux, France, Germany and Switzerland.

VARO Energy is a partnership between the international energy and commodities company Vitol and the global investment firm The Carlyle Group.

About SilviCarbon

With an abundance of expertise in carbon, forestry and agro-forestry markets, SilviCarbon purposefully selects and participates in scalable afforestation, reforestation and regenerative farming projects that provide tangible long-term economic and social benefits.

SilviCarbon matches reforestation projects with carbon market participants to facilitate the removal of carbon from the atmosphere for the long- term. The company’s four founders bring their extensive experience in plantations, forestry products and carbon markets to develop carbon financing solutions for large-scale forestry projects, and provide carbon removal credits to companies seeking to meet their net zero climate targets.