Imperative Receives Strong First Ex Ante Rating from BeZero Carbon for its South African Restoration Project

Imperative, a next-gen carbon credit project developer, is proud to announce the receipt of our first ex ante carbon rating from BeZero Carbon.

The first 10,000 hectare phase of Imperative’s recently sanctioned South African project (the Spekboom Project), which at full scale will restore 100,000 hectares of land through active replanting of native thicket across a vast area in the Eastern and Western Capes of South Africa, has received an ex ante Standalone Carbon Rating of ‘aa’ and a BeZero Carbon ex ante Rating of ‘Ae’.

A BeZero Carbon Rating represents BeZero’s opinion on the likelihood of a carbon credit achieving a tonne of CO2e avoided or removed. It is an opinion on the greenhouse gas efficacy of a carbon credit. The BeZero Carbon Rating is conveyed using an eight-point alphabetical scale ranging from ‘highest’ to ‘lowest’ likelihood.

The standalone carbon rating of ‘aa’ represents BeZero’s current opinion of a very high likelihood that credits from the project will achieve their carbon objectives. This standalone carbon rating is focused on the inherent carbon efficacy of the credits; it excludes project execution risk, only taking into account carbon risk factors such as additionality, carbon accounting and non-permanence.

The BeZero Carbon ex ante Rating of ‘Ae’, which takes into account both carbon risk factors as well as project execution risk, represents BeZero Carbon’s current opinion of a high likelihood that credits issued by the project will result in a removed tonne of CO2e.

This ex ante rating puts Imperative’s Spekboom project amongst the highest rated Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation projects for which BeZero have issued ex ante ratings. This very strong rating serves as a significant external validation and endorsement of Imperative’s commitment to top-decile quality in our carbon credit projects.  As execution progresses on the project, we aim to further increase the project’s rating.

Imperative is bringing a major projects approach to the hands-on, boots-on-the-ground development of its projects, introducing sophisticated project planning, execution and physical asset management capabilities from adjacent industries.

The Project leverages a proprietary technology stack, spanning advanced project planning and management technologies, a proprietary array of in-field and remote sensing data collection sources and major projects-grade activity coding to give best-in-class, actionable transparency on project execution and asset performance.

“We are thrilled to receive such a strong ex ante rating from BeZero Carbon,” said Scobie Mackay, CEO of Imperative. “External validation from BeZero Carbon not only affirms the quality of our projects but also provides our stakeholders, investors, and customers with the assurance that they are contributing to genuinely impactful and credible climate solutions. We would like to thank our Imperative project team and the team from our project services partner, NatCarbon Africa, for making this possible.”

Imperative continues to lead the way in the development of cutting-edge carbon credit projects that not only meet but exceed industry standards. Our commitment to transparency, sustainability, and excellence is at the core of our operations, ensuring that we deliver real and lasting environmental benefits.

For more information about Imperative and our carbon credit projects, please visit www.imperativeinc.com or contact info@imperativeinc.com.

About Imperative

Imperative is a mission-driven, next-gen carbon project development company focused on producing ultra-high-quality carbon credits. Our mission is to design, develop, own and operate, at scale, the best carbon credit projects in the world and to optimise those projects using technology.

Imperative brings together multi-decade experience in carbon and conservation projects, carbon markets, major project execution and emerging market, cross-border structuring and finance. In order to drive the largest and best possible climate, sustainable development and biodiversity outcomes per dollar deployed, Imperative is focused on the Global South. Our project pipeline spans Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with a focus on native-species reforestation, mangrove restoration, large-scale agroforestry, and high-quality conservation projects.

Imperative firmly believes in the use of the voluntary carbon market to drive a just climate transition, with projects designed to create not only large-scale climate and biodiversity impacts, but transformative benefit sharing outcomes for local communities.