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Google is launching a new coalition called Symbiosis, a multi-company effort designed to increase the effectiveness of nature-based carbon removal projects.
Symbiosis brings together a group of corporate buyers committed to using the latest science to scale high-quality carbon removal solutions that leverage nature’s ability to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Examples of such projects include restoring trees and mangroves in damaged ecosystems.
While these projects hold promise for mitigating climate change, their complexity and the interconnectedness of ecological and economic systems can make it difficult to measure and verify their exact climate impact. This, in turn, hinders their ability to be scaled up effectively.
Symbiosis aims to address this challenge by establishing a new benchmark for best-in-class nature restoration projects with a high certainty of delivering positive climate benefits. The coalition will develop shared criteria for project design and measurement, ensuring these criteria stay up-to-date with the latest scientific advancements. Additionally, Symbiosis will pool demand for carbon removal credits that meet these high standards. By making these project criteria public, Google hopes to empower other companies to adopt best practices and increase confidence in high-quality nature-based carbon removal projects.
The focus of Symbiosis extends beyond climate impact to encompass other important factors associated with nature restoration projects. These include restoring native species and biodiversity, as well as ensuring equitable involvement and compensation for Indigenous and local communities.
This initiative leverages Google’s experience from co-founding Frontier, a successful coalition that used advanced market commitments to accelerate the development of human-made technologies capable of storing carbon for over a thousand years. Symbiosis takes a similar approach, but instead focuses on harnessing nature’s inherent ability to capture carbon. Both coalitions play a vital role in Google’s goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2030.
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Joining Google in this initiative are Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce, with more companies expected to participate in the future. Google is excited to be a part of kickstarting solutions that will help itself and others on the path to net zero.