Seattle-area tech giant Amazon is part of a $180 million deal with at least five other companies to buy carbon removal credits that will protect a portion of the Brazilian rainforest, according to Reuters.
- Amazon’s carbon footprint shrank by 3% last year, marking its second straight year of decline, but big challenges are ahead as it and other tech heavyweights are building more power-hungry data centers to meet AI demands.
- In the past year, Microsoft has made two purchases of carbon removal credits centered on restoration of the Amazon forest, which is a crucial region for holding carbon and keeping it out of the atmosphere.
- In 2021, Amazon and others launched the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition to marshal public and private resources to save tropical rainforests.