New EDF subsidiary Oklima looks to rewild parts of France

French power giant EDF has set up a new carbon offset subsidiary called Oklima that plans to help companies reach emissions targets by planting trees where they no longer grow, recreating wetlands and other attempts at so-called rewilding.

French power giant EDF has set up a new carbon offset subsidiary called Oklima that plans to help companies reach emissions targets by planting trees where they no longer grow, recreating wetlands and other attempts at so-called rewilding. Due to wildfires, industry and infestations, France has lost swathes of its natural spaces. With the reintroduction of biodiversity, these spaces can be regrown or planted anew to capture carbon from the atmosphere, a process known as carbon sequestration.

Oklima is setting up about 100 such biodiversity projects throughout the French countryside with the goal of offsetting over 200 kilotonnes (kt) of carbon emissions. An EDF spokesperson said the state-owned company was planning on buying offsets from Oklima.

"What we are providing (companies) with is a way to go further by funding projects that are beneficial for the climate but would not take place without a voluntary contribution," Oklima CEO Thomas Bladier said. Projects and funding are ready to go, with most brand new and more planned, Bladier said. Each will need to pass through a five-year surveillance period as groundbreaking begins and plants and animals are reintroduced to natural spaces.

Critics have said carbon offseting is a distraction from the actual change that comes from slashing carbon emissions, or that companies use it as a way to "greenwash" their businesses, making them appear more climate friendly than they are. Major companies have been embroiled in lawsuits around greenwashing filed by environmentalist groups which allege that public advertising of climate-friendly investments are misleading due to the companies' other activities.

"What we don't want is companies claiming that they have achieved any kind of reduction or neutrality using our project," Bladier said. The offsets will follow recent guidelines set out by the Ecological Ministry in an effort to certify emissions reduction programmes, aiming to take into account both direct and indirect emissions.

Oklima is expected to eventually offer carbon credits from projects developed outside France.