Meta reiterates commitment to support voluntary carbon markets
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – US-based tech behemoth Meta has vowed to continue expanding voluntary carbon markets through investments in nature-based carbon removal solutions and direct air capture (DAC) technology in its 2024 sustainability report.
The company said it intends to support carbon projects promoting environmental and social benefits beyond carbon sequestration, and has also indicated that carbon credits would be necessary for its hard-to-abate emissions by 2030.
"Our carbon removal strategy seeks to expand the voluntary carbon market toward projects that offer environmental and social benefits beyond carbon sequestration alone, as well as to drive innovation in new carbon removal technologies," said Meta.
"We believe we have an important role to play in advancing the development and accessibility of both natural and technological carbon removal solutions," it added.
"Each project type offers different pathways to impact at scale, on both immediate and longer-term timelines," Meta said.
Meta added in the report, published Wednesday, that new technologies such as DAC offer a "high global climate mitigation potential" and will be a "necessary complement" to nature-based carbon removal solutions.
Novel carbon removal technologies such as DAC and geologic biomass storage "require
early adoption from companies like Meta to help scale up and bring costs down, and we will continue to support technologies like these to accelerate additional tools to help the world reach a zero carbon future," Meta said.
The company also said that it seeks to support carbon markets with technological contributions, such as remote sensing for monitoring and verifying forest carbon stocks, to "overcome barriers to scale."
Meta highlighted the forward agreement for nature-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) it signed last year with climate finance company Catona Climate.
The contract will provide Meta with a 6.75 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) CDRs supply between 2027 and 2035.
Meta has also formed a partnership with other US-based tech companies, such as Google and Microsoft, in a coalition named "Symbiosis," as they aim to procure 20 million tCO2e of CDRs collectively.
In 2023, the tech company compensated for its scope 1 (direct emissions) and scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased electricity and energy) with 53,050 tCO2e of removals.
Meta has maintained net zero emissions in its global operations since 2020, primarily by matching 100% of the electricity use of its data centers and offices with renewable energy and addressing the remaining emissions with CDRs.
The company has targeted reaching net zero value chain emissions in 2030.
