Google, McKinsey strike Brazil carbon removal deal with silvopasture project
Google and McKinsey agreed to buy 320,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits over 10 years to support a silvopasture project in Brazil. The deal will help fund restoration of 8,700 hectares of pastureland within a broader 50,000-hectare project.
1. Carbon credit purchase
Google and McKinsey agreed to buy 320,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits over 10 years through the Symbiosis Coalition. The long-term purchase agreements will support Working Trees’ effort to convert degraded cattle pasture into mixed-species systems across Brazil’s southeastern Amazon and Cerrado regions.
2. Project details
The deal will help fund restoration of 8,700 hectares of degraded and semi-degraded pastureland, part of a broader 50,000-hectare project. Working Trees plants commercial timber and native tree species in existing cattle pastures, leaving room for grazing. The company says the model can improve cattle productivity and generate timber revenue that encourages landowners to maintain the systems as carbon-credit income declines.
3. Coalition and market
The Symbiosis Coalition includes Google, Microsoft, Meta and Salesforce, and has pledges for more than 20 million tons of offsets by 2030. Its executive director, Julia Strong, described silvopasture as a promising approach for scaling carbon sequestration, while Working Trees CEO Leif Gonzales-Kramer said long-term purchase commitments were critical to unlocking investment. Some critics say carbon offsets allow polluters to avoid reducing emissions.
