In 2021, Chemours made a commitment to pair climate action with community investment. Aligned with the company’s 2030 Corporate Responsibility Commitment (CRC) goals, Chemours partnered with the American Forest Foundation (AFF) to help launch the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP) in West Virginia—an initiative designed to support family forest owners in implementing management practices that grow the economic and environmental value of their forested properties over time.
Five years later, the results underscore what is possible when climate solutions are built through collaboration and centered on local communities.
Program Growth That Exceeded Early Expectations
What began with a goal of enrolling 50 landowners and 6,500 acres of family-owned forest has grown significantly. As of late 2023, 101 landowners and more than 15,500 acres were enrolled in the program—more than doubling initial targets.
According to AFF’s estimates, those enrolled forests will store an additional 250,000 tonnes of CO₂e over the next 20 years, representing a meaningful contribution to climate mitigation. To put that impact in context, this level of carbon storage is equivalent to removing the emissions associated with burning 275 million pounds of coal from the atmosphere.
Importantly, the program’s success in West Virginia has also helped catalyze additional investment in similar initiatives across Appalachia and beyond.
An Intentional Focus on Communities Navigating Economic Transition
From the outset, Chemours and AFF were deliberate about where the work would take place. Enrollment in West Virginia was focused on Logan, Wyoming, Boone, Fayette, and Kanawha counties—communities that have historically relied on the fossil fuel economy and are navigating significant economic transition as energy systems evolve.
Today, these counties represent a disproportionate amount of FFCP participation in the state, and the program’s benefits extend beyond environmental outcomes to support economic resilience in regions facing real change.
Forests That Create Value for Families and Communities
The FFCP is designed to deliver tangible benefits to landowners while strengthening sustainable forestry practices. To date, the American Forest Foundation has committed $8.2 million in practice payments to participating landowners in West Virginia.
Those investments support local sustainable forestry jobs, help families build long-term value from land they have stewarded for generations, and reinforce the role that family-owned forests can play in addressing climate challenges at scale.
Measurable Impact, Built Through Partnership
For Chemours employees and stakeholders in West Virginia, this work is more than a sustainability milestone—it is happening in local communities, with neighbors and families directly benefiting from the program’s success.
The American Forest Foundation’s mission has long been to empower family forest landowners to deliver meaningful conservation outcomes. Through this partnership, Chemours has helped advance that mission in a region where climate action and community investment are deeply interconnected.
Five years in, the results offer a clear takeaway: when climate initiatives are designed with communities at the center, the impact is not only meaningful—it is measurable.
