As Big Tech eyes the carbon market, will it work this time?

Tech giants are joining forces and having a go at the beleaguered voluntary carbon market.

In an attempt to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, or at least a part of it, Meta, Microsoft, Google and Salesforce have launched an alliance that aims to invest in nature-based carbon removal projects. The Symbiosis Coalition has committed to purchase credits that are equivalent to 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, which, it acknowledges, is “only a fraction of the world’s total carbon removal goals.”

According to a press statement announcing the initiative, the companies said they aim to address the “perceived lack of high-quality restoration projects and uncertainty around willingness to pay” that have kept investors at bay and impacted public trust in the potential of carbon credits.

The development comes at a time when the carbon market faces increasing scrutiny and uncertainty. For years, people and companies have invested in forest restoration projects to cancel out, or offset, the emissions they produce as part of their lives and work. Such projects, however, have faced allegations of greenwashing and human rights abuses. Many have also criticized these projects over a lack of transparency and evidence of tangible climate benefits.

Despite flaws in the unregulated carbon market, proponents still consider carbon offsetting an important tool in the fight against climate change. In a Mongabay story published earlier this year, experts said that nature-based restoration, with support from the voluntary carbon market, plays a vital role in global climate action. In May, the U.S. government laid down guidelines to increase accountability and boost confidence in the voluntary carbon market, emphasizing its importance in reducing emissions and protecting biodiversity.

“We need to shake off the shackles and create a new market with more trust,” Karl Burkart, deputy director at climate nonprofit One Earth, told Mongabay in a video interview.

Referring to the Symbiosis Coalition, Burkart said tech companies might likely be able to approach the issue differently. “Tech companies make sense because if you are going to do reforestation, it is a tech-heavy endeavor,” he said. Additionally, he said, since it’s coming on the heels of widespread criticism of the carbon market, the alliance “would likely be very keen to avoid any greenwashing charges, and we might see class standards applied.”

The Symbiosis Coalition will initially focus on afforestation, reforestation and revegetation projects. For this, according to the press statement, the alliance has worked with independent experts to establish guidelines on what constitutes a good forestry project.

Projects should fulfill certain criteria, including the ability to demonstrate financial transparency and biodiversity benefits. The alliance also aims to invest in projects that work in biomes where “forest cover is ecologically suitable,” to address concerns from past carbon projects where the wrong trees were planted in the wrong locations, harming the ecosystem rather than benefiting it. The Symbiosis Coalition has also promised “equitable engagement and outcomes for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.”

Burkart said much of the details of how the alliance will work are still unknown. This includes questions on the technology that it aims to focus on, the share of benefits that will go back to local communities, and the biodiversity metrics that will be used to measure progress.

“They are saying all the right things,” he said. “We will have to wait and watch how it is going to play out.”

Banner image: A restored mangrove forest in Thailand. Image by Troup Dresser via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Abhishyant Kidangoor is a staff writer at Mongabay. Find him on 𝕏 @AbhishyantPK.

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