Google, Microsoft, Meta and Salesforce announced the Symbiosis Coalition pledging their commitment to nature-based carbon removal credits. The companies have committed to contract 20 million tonnes in nature-based carbon removal credits by 2030. This would have a high impact on climate and result in equitable outcomes for communities that depend on these projects. The coalition is likely to be joined by more companies in the days to come.
Google officials share that nature-based carbon removal projects like the restoration of mangroves and trees in damaged ecosystems are important to mitigate climate change and a very scalable way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. However, nature is dynamic and complex and has interdependent economic and ecological systems, thus making the climate impact of these projects hard to verify, and making it difficult to scale them to their full potential.
Symbiosis aims to work towards solving this challenge by setting a new benchmark for nature restoration projects that will have a high certainty of positive climate impact.
Google, in its blog, informed that the coalition aims to develop shared criteria for the project design and measurement, update them based on the latest science, and pool demand for carbon removal credits. The project criteria will also be shared publically to help other companies adopt best practices and increase their confidence in high-quality, nature-based carbon removal projects.
The symbiosis coalition will also bring focus to factors making nature restoration projects compelling like restoring native species and wildlife biodiversity to equitably involving and compensating indigenous and local communities.
Read details https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/new-coalition-scale-nature-based-carbon-removal/