We made a proposal this week that hit the headlines: Ecosia has offered to take stewardship of Google Chrome — a proposal that could change the rules of the internet and the fate of our planet.
At the heart of our idea is a simple question: what if the world’s most valuable digital assets were used for the public good, not just private profit?
What we’re actually proposing
We don’t want to own Chrome forever. Our idea is simple: move Chrome out of Google’s monopoly and put it under the stewardship of a purpose-driven organization — starting with us. For ten years, we’d run the browser in the public interest and channel the majority of its profits into climate solutions instead of shareholder pockets.
Google wouldn’t walk away empty-handed. We’d still pay them $400 billion in compensation — over ten times what others have offered. After a decade, we’d pass Chrome on to another mission-driven steward, so it remains a public asset, not just another corporate prize.
That means every time billions of people use Chrome, they wouldn’t just be browsing the web — they’d be helping to save the planet.
Chrome could fund a livable future
Our calculations show that Chrome, with its dominant market share and connection to Google’s advertising machine, could generate $1 trillion in profit over the next 10 years. That’s not a typo.
Now imagine what we could do with that kind of money:
Protect the world’s last great rainforests
Every year, $6 billion would go into a Guardian Fund dedicated to safeguarding over 900 million hectares of irreplaceable primary forests. That includes $3 billion annually to keep 550 million hectares of the Amazon standing, $2.8 billion to protect the 300 million hectares of the Congo Basin, and $200 million to preserve the forests of Borneo and Sumatra. These ecosystems are the planet’s lungs — and once destroyed, they cannot be replaced.
Reforest at a scale humanity has never attempted before
A one-time investment of $80 billion would bring back some of the world’s most iconic landscapes. $37 billion would reconnect the Amazon to the Atlantic Rainforest through two massive biodiversity corridors, restoring more than 70 million hectares of land. $33 billion would finish Africa’s Great Green Wall, an 8,000-kilometer barrier designed to stop the spread of the Sahara, secure food systems, and support millions of people. Another $10 billion would fund a Global Agroforestry Fund, helping farmers worldwide adopt more sustainable and efficient land-use practices. And with $15 billion, we could plant enough trees in the 20 largest U.S. cities to reduce urban heat by 1°C — saving lives during heatwaves.
Enforce planetary justice
With $15 billion a year, we would strengthen advocacy for the planet. That means $3 billion annually to support 10,000 lawyers taking on the world’s most destructive industries, from oil to industrial meat. Another $3 billion to campaign against fossil fuel subsidies that keep dirty energy artificially cheap. $3 billion to counter disinformation that hides the true costs of fast food and factory farming. $1 billion to help Indigenous peoples secure and enforce their land rights. And $5 billion to fund grassroots NGOs across the world, empowering local communities to lead their own climate solutions.
Catalyze clean energy where it’s needed most
The Global South is already living on the front lines of the climate crisis, yet it receives only a fraction of the capital needed for clean energy. We would dedicate $30 billion each year to change that. $20 billion would go into a first-loss facility designed to de-risk renewable energy projects, unlocking an estimated $1 trillion in private capital annually — enough to close half of the current investment gap. The remaining $10 billion would help meet the massive energy demands of global AI data centers with renewables, ensuring this rapidly growing industry does not accelerate the climate crisis.
The surprising part? All of this adds up to less than 60% of Chrome’s expected profits.
In other words: saving the planet is affordable. We’ve just been spending our resources in the wrong places.
Rethinking monopoly remedies
Normally, when monopolies are broken up, assets just change hands between billionaires and investment funds. Our proposal asks: why not use this moment to create a different kind of legacy — one where a product billions of people use every day becomes a direct engine for climate action?
We’d still offer Google $400 billion in compensation — more than ten times what others have floated. But instead of funneling the rest into shareholders’ pockets, it would flow back into safeguarding life on Earth.
A chance we can’t waste
For once, we don’t have to imagine utopia. The math is here, the opportunity is real, and the only barrier is political will.
We believe this moment could set a new precedent: when society wins an antitrust case, the reward should go to society itself. And when the stakes are nothing less than the stability of our climate and ecosystems, we can’t afford to do anything less.
