Tech company Microsoft announced an agreement to purchase 1.4 million tons of carbon removal credits from U.S. reforestation projects.

Microsoft signed the agreement with Living Carbon, a public benefit company transforming degraded and underutilized land into high quality environmental assets.

The credits will be generated through Living Carbon’s large-scale reforestation of 25,000 acres of degraded lands in the broader Appalachian region with a primary focus on areas previously impacted by coal mining.

Living Carbon’s projects restore forest cover on former mine lands, including many that have remained ecologically and economically underutilized for decades. In addition to delivering measurable and highly additional carbon removal, Living Carbon’s restoration activities also produce a range of co-benefits, including improved soil and water health, enhanced biodiversity, and new economic development opportunities in historically underserved rural communities.

“Living Carbon’s work to restore degraded and formerly mined lands in Appalachia represents a meaningful and measurable approach to nature-based carbon removal,” said Brian Marrs, senior director for energy and carbon removal at Microsoft, in a statement. “We are pleased to support this project as part of Microsoft’s broader portfolio of high-quality carbon removal solutions. Uniquely targeted nature-based projects like this address systemic challenges while also generating positive climate and ecological outcomes.”

All carbon removal credits delivered to Microsoft under this agreement will be verified and issued by Isometric, in line with its Reforestation Protocol. Certified in November, the protocol set a new standard for scientific rigor and transparency in reforestation with tech-first quantification, dynamic baselines and advanced approaches to leakage and lifecycle assessment.