Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Salesforce have launched a new business sustainability alliance to facilitate the purchase of substantial quantities of carbon credits from nature-based projects throughout this decade. The newly formed Symbiosis Coalition aims to contract up to 20 million tonnes of high-quality carbon removal credits from initiatives such as forest and peatland restoration by 2030.
What will the Coalition focus on?
According to a statement on the Coalition’s website, the market for nature-based carbon removals has struggled due to perceived deficiencies in high-quality restoration projects and uncertainty regarding payment willingness. The Coalition members believe that collective, long-term agreements to purchase these credits will be pivotal in scaling investment.
To ensure integrity, the Coalition will establish a quality standard and publicly disclose its methods for assessing whether projects will deliver significant long-term climate impacts. These standards will align with those set by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market and the Core Carbon Principles.
The challenges and how the Coalition will overcome them
Current challenges in the market include verifying the additional environmental benefits of projects, protecting them from increasing extreme weather events, and ensuring that they benefit, rather than harm, local communities.
The Coalition is supported by ZOMALAB, an organisation with philanthropic and venture capital arms that promote nature conservation and restoration in the USA and Chile. It encourages further corporate buyers of carbon credits, nature-based project developers, and investors to express interest in joining.
Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft’s Chief Sustainability Officer, stated that the Coalition will help build the global market for high-quality nature-based solutions that are critical to addressing the environmental crisis. She added that continued investment in carbon removal is essential not only to meet their goals but also for the world to achieve its objectives.
What will the Coalition mean?
The Symbiosis Coalition represents a significant step towards advancing the global market for nature-based carbon credits, demonstrating the commitment of major tech companies to addressing climate change through substantial and collaborative action.
The formation of the Symbiosis Coalition marks a significant milestone in the collective efforts of leading technology companies to address climate change through strategic investments in nature-based carbon removal projects. By committing to purchase up to 20 million tonnes of high-quality carbon credits by 2030, Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Salesforce are sending a powerful signal to the market, encouraging the development and scaling of essential environmental restoration initiatives.
What have the Coalition members committed to?
In 2020, Microsoft committed to becoming carbon-negative by 2030 and to removing the equivalent of all its historical greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The company is investing in both nature-based solutions and man-made carbon removal technologies to achieve this goal. Microsoft’s carbon removal projects range from direct air capture and advanced rock weathering to bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
Recently, Microsoft secured its third carbon removal purchase deal with a nature-based project, committing to offtake 1.6 million tonnes of credits over 30 years from a 10,000-hectare reforestation project in Panama. This project, facilitated by Ponterra, Carbon Streaming, and Rubicon Carbon, is funded entirely upfront.
Salesforce, another Coalition member, aims to halve emissions across all scopes by the financial year 2031 and achieve at least a 90% reduction by the financial year 2041. Salesforce is seeking verification from the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for this goal. Google and Meta also have 2030 net-zero targets for their operations and value chains, although neither has obtained SBTi verification.
Key takeaways
As these tech giants leverage their influence to drive systemic change, the Symbiosis Coalition serves as a beacon of hope, demonstrating that meaningful climate impacts can be achieved through visionary leadership and united action. It is hoped that more companies will join this Coalition and that other industries will follow suit in leveraging the power of nature-based solutions to tackle climate change.
