The Carnrite Group (“Carnrite”), a management consultancy with offices in Houston, London, and Abu Dhabi, has agreed to acquire Dubai-based NETZERO Middle East (“NETZERO”). The acquisition strengthens Carnrite’s ability to help clients navigate the energy transition and provides new capabilities in the voluntary carbon markets. The transaction is expected to close by year-end 2021. Ashley Taylor, Managing Director of NETZERO, will join Carnrite as General Manager, Middle East & North Africa.
NETZERO specializes in the origination of carbon credits and offsets in voluntary carbon markets, connecting green capital to climate action projects. NETZERO works with nature-based and engineered project developers to monetize carbon credits while assisting companies in “hard-to-abate” sectors with sourcing high-quality offsets. Together with NETZERO, Carnrite’s Energy Transition practice is well-positioned to help clients measure, monitor, reduce, and offset emissions.
“We have built an ecosystem of partnerships with leading companies such as Persefoni and Data Gumbo. These relationships allow us to help clients efficiently measure and monitor their emissions. Beyond measurement, we’ve been working with clients in North America, Europe, and the Middle East to form energy transition strategies, decarbonize operations, and invest in low carbon and new energy projects like carbon capture and storage,” said Nicholas Carnrite, Partner & Managing Director. “We acknowledge the role high-quality offsets play in our clients’ energy transition strategies, and the acquisition of NETZERO expands Carnrite’s suite of offerings to address that need.”
Ashley Taylor added, “joining Carnrite gives NETZERO the global reach and resources needed to fully implement our business model and expand our offerings across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and beyond. Together, we will serve as advisors in the voluntary carbon markets, while exploring the opportunity to identify, screen, aggregate, and secure funding for smaller-scale nature-based and engineered projects. We truly believe that whilst carbon offsetting cannot be the only solution to decarbonizing society, it is an essential pillar in the short- to medium-term to help businesses reduce their emissions. At the same time, the voluntary carbon market helps channel public and private investment into projects and initiatives that support both the UN SDGs and the technical innovation required if we’re to succeed in limiting climate change to the Paris Agreement targets.”
The NETZERO acquisition is the latest is a series of expansion moves by Carnrite. In 2020, Carnrite opened its first international office in London, United Kingdom and scaled new service offerings focused on Energy Transition and Digital Transformation. Earlier this year, Carnrite opened its office in Abu Dhabi, UAE. NETZERO will become a subsidiary of Carnrite’s UAE holding company incorporated in Abu Dhabi Global Markets, which also has a subsidiary onshore Abu Dhabi.