Symbiosis Coalition members Google, McKinsey, and Meta have signed offtake agreements with Living Carbon, a public benefit company focused on converting marginal land into climate assets.
Under the newly signed agreements, the Coalition members have contracted 131,240 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from Living Carbon over a period of 10 years.
The agreements will support Living Carbon’s large-scale reforestation operations on degraded lands in the Appalachian Region of the United States.
Abandoned mine lands, which occupy a territory of 1.6 million acres across the U.S., suffer from poor soil quality, erosion, toxic metal content, and invasive species that prevent natural regeneration. The Central Appalachia region is particularly impacted by decades of coal mining.
The U.S. is also home to approximately 30 million acres of abandoned agricultural land that could be restored through reforestation.
Realizing this huge climate impact potential, the Living Carbon project is focused on bringing back to life marginalized lands such as those affected by mining or agriculture and delivering benefits for local communities.
With this mission in mind, Living Carbon will plant native species of hardwood and pine on former mine lands and degraded agricultural lands in the Appalachian region, combining strategic reforestation, intensive site preparation, and invasive species control to support natural regeneration and deliver measurable CO2 removal results.
According to Living Carbon, this effort will restore vital habitats for local plants and wildlife while enhancing biodiversity and improving the soil and water quality.
Relevant: Symbiosis Coalition Launches First Joint RFP For Forest Projects
Landowners who partner with Living Carbon receive lease payments for otherwise unproductive and degraded land, and local communities gain access to employment opportunities, as well as assistance to repurpose tools and equipment previously used for mining to now be used for ecological recovery.
For Symbiosis, this is the second project announced under the Coalition’s first joint Request for Proposals (RFP) for reforestation and agroforestry projects that could deliver over 500,000 tonnes of removal over 10 years.
Living Carbon will be the first Symbiosis project registered under Isometric’s Reforestation Protocol, and this CDR purchase forms part of the Coalition’s broader strategy for contracting more than 20 million tonnes of high-quality nature-based carbon removal credits by 2030.
Read more: Google And Mombak Expand CDR Cooperation With New 200,000 Tons
