OxCarbon, a not-for-profit spin-out from the University of Oxford, and Kita, the carbon insurance specialist, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at facilitating increased financial investment in climate impact projects.
The partnership focuses on employing scientific and data-driven approaches to scale up investments and develop viable insurance products for OxCarbon projects.
Both organisations seek to de-risk investments, boost financing, and expedite the global response to the climate crisis.
The MOU emphasises the significance of transparent and comprehensive data provision and ongoing processes related to Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV).
Such transparency is essential to establishing confidence in the integrity of climate impact claims and enabling further innovation.
OxCarbon, known for its principle-based approach supported by scientific best practices, believes that transparent MRV processes are crucial for mobilising financial capital and channeling investments towards projects that can make a positive difference.
Kita, with its purpose of accelerating investment in high-quality carbon projects, specialises in providing insurance products that reduce transaction risks and safeguard the performance of carbon purchases.
Through their insurance offerings, Kita aims to remove barriers to action, instilling confidence in investors and encouraging their engagement in the carbon market.
The collaboration with OxCarbon will ensure that scientific best practices are implemented during the project design stage, optimising the potential availability of commercial insurance products.
The partnership between OxCarbon and Kita reflects collaborative UK leadership in establishing clear and transparent structures, fostering higher integrity and trust in carbon projects.
By combining the risk management expertise of the insurance industry with OxCarbon’s transparent and scientific best practices, the collaboration acts as a badge of confidence, promoting the scaling of financial investment into high-quality carbon projects needed to combat the climate crisis.
Natalia Dorfman, CEO and co-founder of Kita, expressed pride in partnering with OxCarbon to develop high-integrity due diligence and MRV frameworks. These frameworks will provide the necessary data to develop insurance products for the fast-moving carbon markets.
Dorfman emphasised that the risk management expertise of the insurance industry, coupled with OxCarbon’s transparent and scientific best practices, will inspire confidence in scaling financial investments in carbon projects necessary to address the climate crisis.
Stephen Lezak, Programme Manager at the Oxford Smith School of Enterprise & the Environment, stressed the importance of subjecting carbon projects to the professional scrutiny and risk-assessment processes of companies like Kita.
Lezak highlighted the urgent need for solutions to unlock carbon financing at scale and the transformative impact of bringing carbon projects into the regulated financial arena.
