Big Tech Betting on Nature-Based Carbon Removals

Julia Strong is the Executive Director of Symbiosis Coalition. Announced in early 2024, Symbiosis Coalition is an advanced market commitment from Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce to purchase up to 20 million tons of nature-based carbon removals. 

The forestry credit space has faced challenges over the last couple of years, prompting interest in how Julia and these large tech companies collaborated to stimulate activity in the sector. Conversations about forestry should be relatively straightforward, considering forests, along with oceans and soil, are natural carbon sinks. Preserving and restoring forests is crucial, yet the complexity surrounding forestry credits always brings new insights. We’re grateful to Julia for sharing more about the formation of Symbiosis Coalition, criteria for high-quality credits, barriers to bankability, and more. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• An overview of Symbiosis Coalition
• The formation of the coalition
• Julia's background in nature-based solutions
• Criteria for high-quality forestry carbon removal projects
• Counterfactuals in forest protection vs restoration
• Regions for reforestation efforts
• Motivations for landowners
• The role of project developers
• Barriers to bankability and how Symbiosis is approaching them
• Potential financing and perceived risk
• Symbiosis' quality criteria: conservative accounting, durability, social and community benefits, ecological integrity, and transparency
• Symbiosis' mangrove restoration
• Working with local and indigenous communities
• Goals for Symbiosis' transparency
• Julia's podcast Solving Climate Naturally

Episode recorded on July 9, 2024 (Published on Aug 12, 2024)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant