How Wren insures climate impact

At Wren, our mission is to help reverse the climate crisis. One way we do this is by purchasing verified carbon credits from projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or remove these gases from the atmosphere. When a Wren subscriber offsets one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), their funds are distributed among a portfolio of projects in a way that amounts to one blended tonne of CO₂e.

Carbon credits are a core part of our business model. They provide a mechanism for project developers to quantify how their activities reduce or remove CO₂e and sell this attributed impact to buyers like Wren. We purchase two types of carbon credits:

1. Certified/ex-post credits: For these credits, the project activities to reduce or remove CO₂e are complete, the credits have gone through rigorous monitoring, reporting, and verification checks, and the associated climate impacts have been confirmed.
2. Pre-purchased/ex-ante credits: These credits are purchased in advance when the project activities are not yet complete. This provides the project developer with the funds needed to carry out activities and complete necessary monitoring, reporting, and verification checks.

The risk management challenge

Whether Wren is buying certified or pre-purchased credits, we complete extensive due diligence on the science underpinning the project activities and the reliability of the project developer.

Despite our best efforts to identify and mitigate risks, unforeseen events can emerge that challenge the validity of certified credits or affect whether pre-purchased credits can be delivered as promised. However, pre-purchased credits play a critical role in the carbon market, providing upfront capital to fund emerging technologies on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Purchasing anything in advance, including carbon credits, comes with uncertainty. A project developer might go bankrupt, abandon their project, or face legal hurdles that prevent them from delivering the pre-purchased credits. For a long time, there wasn’t much that buyers like Wren could do about these risks. Carbon credits aren’t tangible objects, so they're difficult to insure compared to a physical asset like a car. There was essentially no formal infrastructure in the market to protect buyers, who were left with few options if the developer didn't deliver the pre-purchased credits—except to try and recover the funds through legal battles.

The rise of carbon credit insurance

Thankfully, the carbon market has evolved. After years of market uncertainty and increasing demand for risk protection, companies like Kita now offer insurance specifically for carbon credits. Kita helps protect its customers from carbon credit losses due to natural disasters, fraud, insolvency, political risks, and changing carbon standards—offering payouts in cash or replacement credits.

Wren is taking a practical approach to managing risk and uncertainty, partnering with Kita to insure our pre-purchased credits.

How Kita insures your Wren subscription

When we buy insurance from Kita, it helps us manage the inherent risks associated with carbon credit projects. This coverage supports us by providing financial protection against unforeseen events that may affect the successful delivery of pre-purchased credits.

If a project can’t meet its delivery obligations, Kita’s insurance offers a safety net in certain situations, enabling Wren to recover the funds and reinvest them in another project with a similar impact. This means we can still achieve the climate impact we promise and our subscribers can offset the agreed amount of CO₂e.

Thanks to this insurance, we're even more confident that our subscribers' dollars will create real, lasting environmental impact. Climate change is a long-term challenge, and our solutions should be just as resilient.

Our commitment to impactful climate action

Insurance doesn’t only protect Wren and our subscribers, it also helps strengthen the entire voluntary carbon market. By reducing financial risks, more organizations feel confident investing in climate projects. This drives more funding to high-quality initiatives, scaling innovation.

Kita’s policies aren’t one-size-fits-all. They evaluate each project’s specific risks, like financial stability and operational plans, and offer tailored coverage. This structured risk management helps build a more robust, trustworthy carbon market.

We're proud to work with Kita to ensure that the carbon credits we purchase create meaningful change and help build confidence in the wider market.