The Carbon Removal Scoop

The Paris Agreement's carbon markets could be worth up to $250 billion annually and reduce or remove gigatons of CO2.

But how do we operationalise it? How can countries start trading durable removals under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.2 mechanism?

Norway and Switzerland have just agreed on the first durable removals transaction under this framework. For their pilots, planned to be executed pre-2030, they aim to transfer up to 10 Kt of BECCS from Norway and up to 1 Kt of mineralised CO2 from Switzerland.

Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart are joined by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment FOEN’s Veronika Elgart, one of the leading forces behind this agreement. Together, they discuss how this agreement came about, what exactly is planned, and what this could mean for scaling up the international carbon markets more broadly.

Show notes:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Veronika Elgart: LinkedIn
• Agreement between Norway and Switzerland on International CCS and NET
• Press releases: Norway-Switzerland, Switzerland, ClimeFi, Carbon Centric

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A European CDR Purchasing Programme for Permanent Carbon Removal?

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it may become a reality soon.

On May 21st, the European Commission held a dedicated workshop on “A Purchasing Programme for CRCF Permanent Carbon Removal Credits”.

As stated in its own excellent pre-read, Europe will need to fund CDR with up to €6 billion by 2030 to achieve its indicative target of 5 Mt/year.

But where should this money come from? How should a purchasing programme be designed? And should it fund specific CDR technologies or take a broad portfolio approach?

These are just some of the many fascinating questions that were tackled in the workshop. Tune in for this CDR Policy Scoop, where Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart will analyse everything that happened and discuss the most important takeaways for you.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• The workshop pre-read by Ecologic Institute
• Workshop presentation and recording
• Blog by Robert Höglund and Aidan Preston

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Many projects want to blend public funding with revenue from voluntary carbon markets as carbon removal scales up.

Meanwhile, governments have different approaches to it. And sceptics keep questioning whether it makes sense in the first place - what about additionality, corresponding adjustments, and real climate impact?

We’re excited to welcome Erik Rylander, the Head of CDR at Stockholm Exergi, to share his immense experience in innovative funding for their successful BECCS project. We will dig into the real-world lessons from Stockholm Exergi’s journey and explore what policymakers and project developers need to know to make this approach work.

Erik joins CDR Policy Scoop co-hosts Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart for an insightful and frank conversation on this controversial topic.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Erik Rylander: LinkedIn
• Beccs Stockholm
• CDR Accounting: Transparently structuring corporate claims to reconcile with national goals
• When do sales of carbon removal credits benefit climate?
• Financing Engineered Carbon Removal — Combining Public Funding with Voluntary Carbon Markets

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Against all odds, the Liberal Party just won the Canadian general elections. Mark Carney’s party explicitly campaigned to turn Canada into a global leader in carbon dioxide removal.

Canada plans to do so by - among other things - extending its investment tax credit to 2035, supporting a broad range of CDR tech, and introducing dedicated CDR targets for 2035 and 2040.

This all sounds incredibly promising. But will Canada be able to realise this ambition?

No better person to answer this question than Na'im Merchant, Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada, an organisation that has been instrumental in raising the profile of CDR in Canada over the last two years.

Na’im joins co-hosts Sebastian Manhart and Eve Tamme for a fast-paced, 30-minute session that gets right to the heart of the debate.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Na’im Merchant: LinkedIn
• Canada: a safe haven for carbon removal innovation in an uncertain world
• Carbon Removal Canada
• Carbon Curve
• From ministers to mandate letters — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first 100 days in office matters to carbon removal

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It's out: the European Commission published a consultation to gather feedback on what the world's largest emission trading system - the EU ETS - should look like after 2031.

For carbon removals, integration into the EU ETS represents one of the most promising paths to predictable demand at scale. Whether and how that will happen is still up for debate.

A unique opportunity to get involved with such a crucial legislative process from the get-go.

Join Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart for a punchy 30-min discussion that dives into the consultation, its implications, and what a potential call to action for the CDR industry could look like.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• EU ETS consultation

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Are we scrubbing the smokestacks and skies of a waste gas, or creating a valuable resource for a net-zero world?

As carbon management technologies like CCS, CCU, DACCS, and BECCS advance, policymakers and markets are narrowing down on CO₂’s role.

In this CDR Policy Scoop, we dive into:

• What happens if we treat CO₂ only as waste?
• ⁠What is the real potential for CO₂ to be commoditized?
• ⁠How does this debate shape business models, public acceptance, and climate impact?

We’re thrilled to welcome seasoned carbon management expert Rachael Moore from CarbStrat as a guest with unparalleled insights on the topic.

This session is a must for anyone interested in the future of carbon markets, policy innovation, and scaling high-quality carbon removal. There’s a lot to explore!

Join co-hosts Sebastian Manhart and Eve Tamme for a fast-paced, 30-minute session that gets right to the heart of the debate.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Rachael Moore: LinkedIn 
• CarbStrat website
• The future of CO2 in Europe: commodity or waste?

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How can the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism help scale carbon dioxide removal?

Designed to put a price on imported carbon and prevent leakage, but could it also act as a catalyst for scaling CDR?

This CDR Scoop cuts through the noise to explore this critical link. We're digging deep to uncover the potential synergies and challenges.

To ensure we cover all angles, we're thrilled to welcome leading CBAM expert Dan Maleski from Redshaw Advisors. Get ready for unparalleled insights from someone truly in the know!

Join co-hosts Sebastian Manhart and Eve Tamme for another insightful and punchy 30-minute session. Let's unpack this complex topic together.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Dan Maleski: LinkedIn
• OEIS Podcast on CBAM with Dan
• CRA 3-pager on CBAM and CDR in the U.S.
• BCG study with a great section on CBAMs

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A fun, interactive, first-of-a-kind live debate with over 1000 attendees signed up.

We picked two real heavyweights: DAC, the poster-child of CDR, with over 200 DAC companies founded to date. On the other hand, biochar, responsible for a whopping 84% of all durable CDR deliveries to date.

In the DAC corner: Martin Freimüller is the Co-Founder and CEO of Octavia Carbon – the first DAC company in the Global South and fifth largest in the world. He moved his life to Kenya in 2021, upon realising it's the world's best place for DAC.

In the Biochar corner: Sebastian Manhart is Senior Policy Advisor at Carbonfuture and a Board Member of the International Biochar Initiative. Few post as much about biochar as Sebastian. 

Moderated by the CDR Policy Scoop co-host Eve Tamme to keep it punchy (not literally), informative, and entertaining. 

Disclaimer: The primary objective of this debate is to inform & entertain, not to create division. It takes ALL CDR methods to reach the gigaton scale.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Martin Freimüller: LinkedIn and Octavia Carbon website

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On March 31st, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra floated various ideas for how Europe’s expected 90% emission reduction target for 2040 could be achieved.

One of them: letting EU countries purchase United Nations Article 6 credits to meet EU's 2040 climate target. Similar suggestions are currently being proposed by the upcoming German government.

This would require undoing a core principle of Europe’s Climate Law: only European reductions and removals shall count towards climate neutrality.

The backlash has been significant, especially in civil society and environmental groups.

But could this - with some modifications - actually provide a smart path for Europe?

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Politico article on Commissioner Hoekstra’s comments

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8,000 companies have emission reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Only around 50 of them have so far purchased durable carbon removal.

Imagine if all of them purchased CDR? The impact could be >50Mt of demand. Per year. Starting from 2030.

On March 18th, the SBTi released the draft net-zero standard 2.0 which marks a potential inflection point. Will it:

• Drive companies to begin CDR purchases immediately?
• Keep CDR voluntary until the 2040s?
• ⁠Inadvertently push companies away from SBTi due to concerns about mandatory CDR costs?

To make sense of this wide spectrum of possibilities, the CDR Policy Scoop is delighted to have Robert Höglund back on the show. He has been a member of the external SBTi Technical Advisory Group and understands the process and its implications for CDR like no other.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Robert Höglund: LinkedIn, Website, and SBTi draft CNZS Analysis
• SBTi’s draft Corporate Net Zero Standard Consultation
• Carbon Direct Analysis on draft SBTi CNZS
• Lukas May analysis on potential CDR demand of draft SBTi’s CNZS

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