The Goldman Sachs Group has agreed to purchase the majority of the carbon offset portfolio of E+Co, a non-profit investment company that provides business support services and capital to clean energy businesses in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

E+Co said that through a multi-year alliance, Goldman Sachs will help promote its goal of providing investment capital and support services to small, clean energy business ventures in developing countries. It assists clean energy businesses with the aggregation, validation, verification and creation of high quality GHG offsets including those that will be sold to Goldman Sachs.

“Our alliance with Goldman Sachs is a testament to the importance and potential of the global carbon markets,” said E+Co carbon finance manager Erik Wurster. “This represents the growing demand for high quality carbon assets that promote sustainable development and poverty reduction in some of the world’s poorest nations.”

“We are excited to work with E+Co and support the advancement of clean energy and the important social and environmental benefits associated with these efforts,” said Gerrit Nicholas, head of the North American Environmental Commodities Sales Team at Goldman Sachs. “The development of cleaner, more secure energy sources is an international issue that we can help to address through purchasing E+Co’s offsets and participating in the global carbon market.”