Aviva Investors Partners With Climate Impact Partners To Invest In Colombian Afforestation Project

(London) – Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, announces it has funded a large-scale afforestation and restoration project in Colombia, partnering with Climate Impact Partners, a global leader in high-quality carbon market solutions.

Situated in the Vichada region of Colombia’s eastern plains within the Orinoquía, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, Llanos Vivos is being developed by &Forest and Climate Impact Partners, and funded by Aviva Investors.

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The project, which spans up to 13,600 hectares of currently degraded and under-productive grassland, will create a forest the size of Paris. The initial phase is expected to sequester 2.4 million tonnes of carbon, generating high integrity carbon removal credits. At full-scale, it will have the potential sequester more than six million tonnes of carbon over its lifespan.

Alongside this, the project is expected to deliver benefits for local communities, with more than 110 local jobs created during peak planting seasons, including roles in planting, machinery operation, nurseries, and long-term forestry management and protection. Dedicated areas of land will be allocated to community-run farms, supporting local food production, skills development, and livelihoods.

Situated in an ecologically significant area, the new forest will create ecological corridors, supporting natural regeneration across the wider landscape. A majority mix of native species will be planted, strengthening biodiversity and the long-term resilience of the ecosystem. Once established, the forest is expected to be designated as conservation land, securing the permanence of the forest and its carbon removal outcomes.

Climate Impact Partners is the project originator and delivery partner to Aviva Investors, providing ongoing management across the area, while &Forest, a specialist forest project developer, will act as on-the-ground implementation partners.Aviva Investors is funding the project through its Carbon Removal Fund, which aims to deliver investment returns whilst also supporting institutional investors’ long-term climate ambitions by investing directly in nature-based and engineered carbon removal solutions. The fund targets the restoration of degraded landscapes and the creation of new biodiverse forest systems, whilst generating high-integrity carbon removal credits, providing investors with a hedge against transition risks and a diversifying asset class. As part of its investment, Aviva Investors will receive rights to a share of future carbon credits generated through the project, generating both environmental and economic value.

Greta Talbot-Jones, Director, Natural Capital, and co-Portfolio Manager of the Carbon Removal Fund at Aviva Investors, said:

"We are very pleased to be working with leading specialist land managers and development partners on this project. Investors are increasingly viewing carbon removal strategies as a way to diversify their portfolio and hedge against transition risks, rather than solely impact investments. This is a great example of investment activity that can generate long-term outcomes for investors and help them align with long-term climate ambitions, whilst also delivering a range of socioeconomic and nature-based benefits."

Sheri Hickok, CEO at Climate Impact Partners, said:

“Institutional investment is critical to scaling high‑quality carbon removals and accelerating the transition towards an infrastructure‑like carbon market. Through this partnership with Aviva Investors, we’re showing how long‑term capital can directly support the development of high‑integrity, nature‑based carbon projects - providing the certainty projects need and the durability investors demand. By structuring projects to deliver measurable, long‑term impact, we’re helping unlock carbon removal as a credible, investable asset class.”

Johan Larsson Managing Partner at &Forest, said:

“This project restores forests with significant ecological and biodiversity values while also delivering socioeconomic benefits to local communities. We are very excited to partner with a leading investor and carbon market project expert to achieve this. The financing of carbon removal enables us to implement this kind of high-impact forestry project in remote areas where traditional forestry projects are not viable, thus bringing benefits and opportunities to communities in these regions.”

Climate Impact Partners will register the project under Verra’s latest afforestation and reforestation methodology (VM0047), which is approved under the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s Core Carbon Principles label.