Wednesday 8 September 2021

Amazon pledges investment in carbon removal solutions in Brazil

Amazon has pledged to invest in restoring native rainforests and fighting climate change in Brazil through nature-based carbon removal solutions.

It has announced the launch of the Agroforestry and Restoration Accelerator, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, which aims to create a more sustainable source of income for thousands of local farmers in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Pará while helping remove up to 10 million metric tons of carbon emissions through 2050.

That's equivalent to a year of emissions from two million cars.

Amazon's initial investment in the Accelerator will support 3,000 farmers and restore around 20,000 hectares of land mass – approximately the size of the City of Seattle – within three years.

The Nature Conservancy will work together with the World Agroforestry Centre and several local civil society organisations to implement the Accelerator by helping small farmers restore degraded cattle pastures to native forest and agroforestry.

It will also explore innovative ways to support farmers and nurture markets for sustainable forest-based commodities, including with digital technologies and advance new methodologies and satellite-based technologies for quantifying and monitoring carbon removal.

Kara Hurst, Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon said: “Restoring the world’s forests is one of the most meaningful actions we can take right now to address climate change and it will require innovative solutions to be successful.

“We are proud to launch the Agroforestry and Restoration Accelerator in partnership with to support solutions that prioritize high environmental integrity and strong community benefits. Amazon is looking forward to contributing our passion for innovation along with financial support to improve the livelihoods of local communities in, while helping to protect the planet for future generations.”