Tech Giants Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce announced today the launch of the Symbiosis Coalition, a new advance market commitment (AMC) collaboration aimed at supporting the development and growth of the nature-based carbon removal market, with a collective commitment to contract up to 20 million tons of nature-based carbon removal credits.

According to the companies, the coalition aims to send a strong demand signal, enabling the development of high-impact, and science-based restoration projects that will advance progress on global climate goals.

Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Google, said:

“Google is thrilled to join other Symbiosis founders and members to help grow the nature-based carbon removal market in a way that is firmly guided by science and has a measurable impact on the atmosphere. While we’re first and foremost committed to reducing emissions from our operations and value chain, we recognize that won’t be enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change.”

According to the landmark 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate change mitigation study, scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C include carbon dioxide removal methods scaling to billions of tons of removal annually over the coming decades. The report also noted, however, that while there are multiple existing solutions to capture and store CO2, most are early stage and currently limited in scale.

In the most recent IPCC climate change report, the organization highlighted the potential of nature-based solutions to contribute to emissions reductions, estimating that ecosystem restoration projects could add at least 3 gigatons of CO2 emissions removal annually by 2030.

In the companies’ statement announcing the new coalition, the tech giants noted the barriers to scaling up nature-based carbon removal solutions, including the challenges and complexity related to equitably engaging Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and balancing carbon sequestration benefits with other environmental co-benefits. The coalition added that “the nature-based carbon removal market has been hampered by a perceived lack of high-quality restoration projects and uncertainty around willingness to pay,” deterring investors and eroding public trust.

In order to overcome these challenges, the coalition launched an advance market commitment, signaling aggregate demand to suppliers looking to provide solutions. The coalition said that it will be guided by “quality pillars,” to inform criteria for the procurement of nature-based project types, including conservative accounting, durability, social and community benefits, ecological integrity, and transparency.

Melanie Nakagawa, Chief Sustainability Officer at Microsoft, said:

“High-quality, nature-based solutions are vital to addressing climate change, and our work with the Symbiosis Coalition is a key step towards realizing our carbon negative goal by 2030 through a diversified portfolio of carbon removal. This collaboration will help build the overall market for these solutions, leading to more restoration purchases that benefit all of us. Continued investment in carbon removal is important not just to meet our goals but for the world to meet its goals.”

The coalition intends to provide members with opportunities to purchase nature-based carbon removal credits through a joint request for proposal (RFP), with the initial RFP focused on afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation projects (ARR), inclusive of agroforestry, which will apply criteria for the projects emphasizing aspects including additionality, leakage and pathways to creating durable and long-lasting projects, and with plans to subsequently align on criteria for mangrove restoration projects as well.

Blair Swedeen, Global Head of Net Zero and Sustainability at Meta, said:

“We are excited to join other leading companies to signal our support for the highest quality carbon removal projects that have an impact for people and the planet. Reducing our emissions and helping to scale a robust carbon market that includes nature-based and technological carbon removal solutions are essential parts of achieving our sustainability goals, and we’re proud to partner with our peers to help tackle the climate crisis.”

The companies said that they hope to expand the coalition’s membership to other companies, and that it will share the lessons learned with the broader public to advance the confidence in nature-based solutions to address climate change.

Suzanne DiBianca, EVP and Chief Impact Officer at Salesforce, added:

“Through effective collaboration, we can rapidly scale high quality nature-based credits and improve market integrity, driving significant benefits for both people and the planet.”