Auto Trader Announces Partnership With UNDO, Enhanced Rock Weathering Supplier

Auto Trader, the UK’s largest automotive platform, has announced a new partnership with UNDO, the leading nature-enabled permanent carbon dioxide removal company. As part of Auto Trader’s environmental strategy, Putting the Brakes on Carbon, driven by the company purpose to ‘Drive Change Together, Responsibly,’ Auto Trader is committed to being net zero by 2040. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to which Auto Trader is committed, defines net zero as “a state of balance between emissions and removals” in relation to human activities.

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Auto Trader aims to achieve this goal through a 90% reduction in carbon emissions, with the remaining 10% addressed via carbon contribution projects focused on carbon removal. The partnership with UNDO is Auto Trader's first carbon removal project and will utilize enhanced rock weathering (ERW) to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The agreement uses the ICROA-endorsed Puro Standard methodology to quantify high-quality, high-durability CO₂ Removal Certificates (CORCs). ICROA serves as the voluntary carbon market’s provider of best practice guidelines.

“We’re so excited to work with UNDO to not only permanently remove carbon dioxide but to support their verification processes so we can better understand the impact of their work as they scale,” said Christos Tsaprounis, People & Culture Director of Auto Trader.

As part of this agreement, UNDO will spread 1,839 tonnes of mineral-rich basalt rock on agricultural land in the UK, expected to permanently remove approximately 340 tonnes of CO₂. The basalt rock is sourced from UNDO’s network of quarries across North East England and will be applied using existing agricultural machinery. Alongside funding UNDO’s ERW operations, Auto Trader will also support the company’s efforts in Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) enhancement and agronomy trials.

“We’re incredibly proud to play a small part in this vital work,” Christos Tsaprounis stated. “This initiative complements our carbon reduction efforts and does not replace our commitment to reducing emissions in line with our Net Zero goals.”

Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) is a scalable technology that brings co-benefits to soil health and crop yields. The process speeds up natural geological weathering, where CO₂ in rainwater interacts with silicate rocks like basalt to form bicarbonate ions, which eventually stabilize in the ocean over geological time. The breakdown of this mineral-rich volcanic rock releases essential nutrients, increasing crop yield, enhancing soil pH stability, and ultimately reducing fertilizer needs.

UNDO is building a range of operational partnerships to enable the spreading of millions of tonnes of basalt each year. Its immediate goal is to spread enough rock by 2025 to remove one million tonnes of CO₂, paving the way toward billion-tonne scale operations. Auto Trader joins companies like Microsoft and Stripe as the latest technology sector partner to collaborate with UNDO.

“We’re proud that Auto Trader has selected UNDO as its first enhanced rock weathering supplier,” said Jim Mann, co-founder & CEO at UNDO. “Our approach offers one of the most robust climate-tech solutions available today because it is permanent, highly scalable, and delivers multiple co-benefits. With the support of our commercial partners, we are committed to creating a liveable planet for future generations.”

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