How Google Supports Mombak Reforestation in Brazil

From the superpollutants heating our atmosphere today to the carbon dioxide that will persist for centuries, Google is partnering across Brazil to restore climate balance and pioneer solutions that span waste management, reforestation and carbon capture. 

These initiatives illustrate how technology and local collaboration can tackle both short-term and long-term warming while generating social and economic benefits for Brazilian communities.

“At Google, we’re backing a number of technologies to clean up the atmosphere by eliminating the greenhouse gases that are driving warming — and we’re harnessing AI to supercharge their impact,” says Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Google. 

“We need all of these pathways, and more, to start restoring the atmosphere today and eventually to bring our planet back into balance.”

How Mombak engages photosynthesis

While methane reduction slows immediate warming, lasting climate stability depends on restoring the planet’s natural capacity to absorb carbon.

In the Amazon, Google is collaborating with Mombak, Brazil’s largest reforestation company dedicated to large-scale carbon removal through native tree restoration. 

Using machine learning and data science, Mombak identifies degraded lands and reforests them with diverse native species, unlocking the power of photosynthesis – the oldest carbon removal technology on Earth.

“As we scale our operations, this collaboration with Google is a major milestone in our mission to become the world’s largest and most impactful carbon removal project developer,” says Dan Harburg, Chief Technology Officer at Mombak.

“We look forward to working with Google and other leading organisations to further develop the field of nature-based carbon removal, ensuring that our projects continue to meet the highest standards for climate impact, transparency and community engagement.”

The benefits of reforestation

Reforestation at this scale delivers environmental and social dividends: it draws carbon out of the atmosphere, supports biodiversity, and boosts local economies. Through its work with Mombak, Google is helping accelerate this process while ensuring accuracy in carbon accounting. AI-powered platforms like Google Earth Engine and Google Earth AI support detailed monitoring of carbon stocks and ecosystem recovery, enabling rigorous measurement and long-term verification.

“We’re pleased to partner with Mombak on our first purchase of forestry-based carbon removal credits, with an eye to solving a central challenge of this field: ensuring certainty of climate impact,” says Randy Spock, Google’s Carbon Removal Lead. 

“Looking ahead, we’re excited to build on this deal via our participation in the Symbiosis Coalition.”

The Symbiosis Coalition

Nature-based projects like Mombak’s are also being amplified through the Symbiosis Coalition, which Google co-founded to expand the market for scientifically verified reforestation and carbon removal. 

The Symbiosis Coalition is a pioneering initiative founded in 2024 by leading technology companies including Google, Meta, Microsoft and Salesforce to advance nature-based carbon removal at scale. 

Its central ambition is to facilitate an advance market commitment (AMC) for up to 20 million metric tons of high-quality nature-based carbon removal credits by 2030, making it the largest commitment of its kind for ecological restoration. 

This volume represents the equivalent of California’s 2030 carbon removal goals, signaling a major step toward mainstreaming nature-based solutions within global climate action strategies.​

“Symbiosis represents a steadfast commitment to the importance of nature to climate action and the role of carbon markets, when done right, to financing critical climate solutions,” says Julia Strong, Executive Director of Symbiosis.

“Symbiosis sends a strong signal to project developers that buyers are willing to pay what it takes for high-quality projects that benefit the environment and local communities.”