Netflix Signs Carbon Removal Deal With American Forest Foundation

US streaming giant Netflix has partnered with the American Forest Foundation (AFF) in a long-term carbon removal deal to support an Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (ARR) program in the Southern US.

Through the agreement, Netflix will support AFF’s Family Forests program, which helps convert farmland into new forests. The investment will support the launch of the first 6,000 acres and expand the initiative across the southern US. The program currently operates across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

The agreement will see Netflix provide partial funding as acres are planted and trees grown, with the remaining funds provided once the carbon credits are verified. The investment amount and number of carbon credits tied to the agreement were not disclosed.

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“Netflix’s partnership shows what’s possible when business and nature come together. With the right investment and science, natural climate solutions can be both a powerful and credible tool to address our most pressing conservation challenges,” said John Ringer, senior director of project finance and environmental markets at AFF. “We’re grateful for Netflix's leadership, and we invite other companies to follow their lead by investing in new approaches that support America’s rural communities and family-owned forests.”

The project already covers approximately 2,500 acres, with more than 1.4 million trees planted. AFF aims to expand the program to 75,000 acres by 2032, which it claims could generate up to 4.8 million carbon credits.

In addition to generating carbon credits, the project aims to have a positive impact on local landowners. The project is designed exclusively for small-acreage landowners who have historically been excluded from the voluntary carbon market due to high upfront costs and programmatic complexity. To support accessibility, AFF has committed to covering all site preparation and tree planting costs, as well as providing landowners with technical support and annual payments throughout the 30-year contract.

The purchase by Netflix is part of the company's broader effort to decarbonize its value chain. Currently, more than 95 percent of its associated emissions are Scope 3, primarily from cloud services, content production, and supply chains. Its Scope 3 emissions have surged over recent years, rising from 843,107 tons CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) in 2023 to 986,738 tCO2e in 2024, a 23 percent increase.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is Netflix’s primary cloud provider, with the company moving all its back-office services to AWS servers in 2016. Previously, it had operated its own service through a small portfolio of data centers.

The company still operates its own content delivery network (CDN), comprising low-latency equipment installed at Edge locations near its customers. The company also operates an Open Connect program, which partners with Internet Service Providers to localize Netflix traffic and minimize the delivery of traffic that is served over a transit provider.

Netflix is not the only tech company that has backed an ARR initiative. Earlier this year, Microsoft inked a deal with Rubicon Carbon for 18 million tons of carbon removal credits tied to its worldwide ARR projects.