By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
A new carbon investment vehicle is poised to capitalize on Australia’s corporate offset needs. Cibus Capital, a London-based sustainable food and agriculture investor, has launched the Cibus Carbon fund, specializing in the creation of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) from planted carbon projects within the country’s expansive natural capital sector. Cibus Capital is targeting a A$200–300 million fundraise to support the creation and delivery of roughly 11.25 million ACCUs over the next three decades. The Cibus Carbon fund will be managed by a team in Australia harnessing expertise from Cibus Capital’s private equity and venture capital platforms.
The strategy features mixed-species tree plantings across select Australian sites, which Cibus will uncover using an internal model it developed to evaluate land acquisition costs against anticipated carbon credit yields. The focus is on undervalued parcels of land where the potential returns from offsets exceed expenses, while capitalizing on the market’s high barriers to entry that favor experienced participants.
Cibus Capital boasts established capabilities in sustainable land and nursery management, as well as large-scale afforestation and real assets management. The Cibus Fund II portfolio features assets like Withcott Seedlings, one of Australia’s leading producers of native vegetable and tree seedlings for timber and carbon sequestration. By blending Cibus Capital’s proven operational expertise with advanced technologies, the new fund is poised to elevate the standards for generating consistent, high-integrity ACCUs at scale.
“Cibus Carbon shows that protecting ecosystems and creating value can go hand in hand”, Rob Appleby, Founder and CIO of Cibus Capital, said. “Our strategy helps companies reach Net Zero while generating wider benefits for communities and investors alike.”
Cibus expects Australia’s carbon credit market to become the world’s largest in the coming years as compliance demands increase and voluntary buyers line up. Industry projections anticipate net buying activity will nearly triple to approximately 44 million units in 2030, up from 15 million in 2025.
Damon Petrie, Consultant Investment Director at Cibus, said: “Nature-based mitigation will play a major role in the pathway to addressing climate change. The Australian Carbon Credit market, at the pace of growth and maturity, presents a prime opportunity to invest in institutional-grade nature-based solutions which we anticipate will deliver robust returns.”
The carbon program is designed to deliver both environmental and community benefits aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while providing businesses with cost-effective, verifiable credits to meet their decarbonization goals.
In its latest Sustainability Report, Cibus Capital emphasized its mission to tackle the “perfect storm” of challenges facing global agriculture, including rising food demand for 2 billion more people by 2050, global GHG emissions originating from the food value chain, and the loss of arable land over the past four decades, through targeted investments in resilient, equitable food systems.
In addition to the latest fund launch, the Cibus mandate extends to a pair of other strategies, the Cibus Fund, which channels buyout and growth equity into mid-market companies transitioning to resource-efficient operations in areas like permanent crops and natural capital, and Cibus Enterprise, backing late-stage agri-food tech innovations such as robotics and supply chain disruption.
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