The CDR Procurement Guide

Join The CDR Procurement Guide Community! We want to invite you to connect with us on WhatsApp and help co-create the content that will be most helpful to you and others in the CDR buyer community. We need your feedback on what we produce and your suggestions on what we need to produce to help us help you. Engage in conversations on topics from the shows or topics you want to see in the shows, invite other buyers and be a part of our active community discussions!

-Join the WhatsApp community-

In this episode of CDR Procurement Guide, Eli spoke with Co-Authors Jennifer Geary and Anna Krotova who recently authored the book “How to be a Chief Sustainability Officer”.

“How to be a Chief Sustainability Officer” is a hands-on and comprehensive book that condenses over 20 years of sustainability theory and collective management experience into a solid guide for sustainability leaders. It is also an important reference for Boards, Committees, and executives who want to embrace the sustainability transition and position their organisations for long-term, ethically driven success.

Anna Krotova is a sustainability leader who has spent her entire career and working life in sustainability. Over the last 15 years, she has held sustainability roles across various sectors, from non-profits and international development organisations to consulting and private sector companies.

Jennifer Geary is a COO with over 25 years of experience in Finance, Technology, Risk and Legal, across diverse industries from financial services to not-for-profit.

Some of the highlights from this episode:

• Jennifer's journey of writing books on C-suite roles and the challenges faced.
• Anna's motivation for collaborating on the CSO book and the regulatory pressures in sustainability.
• The importance of internal carbon pricing and accurate emissions inventory.
• Procurement strategies and due diligence for carbon removal technologies.
• Legal risks and the reality of greenwashing in sustainability efforts.
• The necessity of building a supportive community around CSOs for better decision-making and knowledge sharing.

-Relevant Links-

• Jennifer Geary’s website
• Jennifer Geary LinkedIn
• Anna Krotova website
• Anna Krotova LinkedIn
• Click to buy the “How to be a Chief Sustainability Officer” book

Join The CDR Procurement Guide Community! We would like to invite you to connect with us on WhatsApp and help co-create content that will be most helpful to you and others in the CDR buyer community. We need your feedback on what we produce, as well as your suggestions on what we should create to better assist you. Engage in discussions on topics from the episodes, or propose topics you would like to see featured. Invite other buyers and be part of our active community conversations! 

-Join the WhatsApp community-

In this episode of CDR Procurement Guide, Eli spoke with Christopher Neidl, Co-Founder of The OpenAir Collective.

OpenAir is a global volunteer collective advancing carbon dioxide removal solutions to the climate crisis through collaborative research & development, advocacy, and pilot-based missions.

Chris Neidl has helped lead advocacy efforts at the state level related to low-carbon concrete procurement policy, including the Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Leadership Act (LECCLA), as well as carbon removal procurement and incentives, such as the New York Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act, the NY Carbon City Property Tax Abatement Act, and the Luxembourg Negative Emissions Tariff.

Some of the highlights from this episode:

• The importance of a multi-layered approach to net zero, combining emissions reduction, resilience, and carbon removal.
• How non-profit organisations like OpenAir Collective educate, organise, and drive citizen-led policy change at the local level.
• Empowering citizens with AI tools to spread effective CDR policies and create a ‘wildfire’ of advocacy.
• The need for early engagement in CDR, with early adopters setting the standard for future practices.
• How organisations can learn from established role models instead of reinventing the wheel.
• The critical role of rigorous standards and MRV in ensuring trust and accountability in the carbon market.
• Preparing for the inevitable development of carbon markets and recognising the essential role of government involvement.

-Relevant Links-

• Chris's LinkedIn
• The OpenAir Collective's website

Join The CDR Procurement Guide Community! We want to invite you to connect with us on WhatsApp and help co-create the content that will be most helpful to you and others in the CDR buyer community. We need your feedback on what we produce and your suggestions on what we need to produce to help us help you. Engage in conversations on topics from the shows or topics you want to see in the shows, invite other buyers and be a part of our active community discussions!

-Join the WhatsApp community-

In this episode of CDR Procurement Guide, Eli spoke with Jason Grillo CEO and co-founder of AirMiners

Jason Grillo is the Director of Partnerships and Operations for AirMiners - a worldwide community of innovators dedicated to advancing the practice of removing carbon dioxide and its equivalent greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, across all methods. His experience in AirMiners spans leading the biweekly virtual event series, managing the community of over 2,300 people, and co-leading the Launchpad accelerator program for early stage startups which has graduated 95 teams since 2021.

AirMiners gathers people who want to build something in carbon removal and brings them into community with others who can create with them.

AirMiners started in 2017 by Tito Jankowski and Matthew Eshed, as a project to help kick start the carbon removal industry. Since then, AirMiners has grown to accelerate entrepreneurs and innovators building solutions for carbon removal.

Some of the highlights from this episode:

• The correct positive positive framing of carbon removal to create a narrative of agency
• How buyers can leverage resources of AirMiners and be part of forthcoming buyer education programme, designed for CSOs (supported by TCDRPG)
• How to make carbon removal and co-benefits relevant to organisation stakeholders
• The case and necessity for early engagement in CDR to support 2030 net zero milestones.
• The value of buyer groups and communities beyond sharing individual experience.
• The importance of trust in the early market and the role of MRV/due diligence in procurement process
• Thinking of carbon removal as a strategic enabler and a brand enhancer and having the confidence to talk about contributions to market and industry building without fear of greenwashing.
• The three buyer archetypes that buyers should consider

-Relevant Links-

• Jason Grillo’s LinkedIn
• AirMiner’s website
• AirMiner’s LinkedIn
• Boot Up Programme Registration Link 
• Buyers Academy Registration Link

• The importance of developing specific communication and education strategies for different audiences using simple, easily to understand concepts - thinking about carbon removal as necessary waste management, where you have to remove what you emit.
• The necessity for novice buyers to be able to learn from pioneer buyers - industry and market peers need to help each other.
• The importance of establishing a price for carbon to drive the right organisation behaviours and fund transition activity and compensation of residual/historic emissions. 
• Funding the first feature length CDR documentary through the Legion44 initiative to bring CDR to the wider public - launching at Venice Film Festival.
• The importance of public long term multi-year CDR procurement commitments for both sides of the market.
• The policy environment that is emerging is creating greater certainty for organisations with net zero claims about the action they will need to take.
• Call To Action: Lobby for a price to be put on carbon by society and within organisations to fund carbon waste management.

• Benjamin Schulz’s LinkedIn
• Carbon Removal Partners website
• WEF Reports
• SwissRe industry report
• SwissRe Institute
• Legion44 launch and programme

Join The CDR Procurement Guide Community! We want to invite you to connect with us on WhatsApp and help co-create the content that will be most helpful to you and others in the CDR buyer community. We need your feedback on what we produce and your suggestions on what we need to produce to help us help you. Engage in conversations on topics from the shows or topics you want to see in the shows, invite other buyers and be a part of our active community discussions!

-Join the WhatsApp community-

In this episode of CDR Procurement Guide, Eli spoke with Ben Rubin Executive Director of Carbon Business Council

Carbon Business Council is a nonprofit trade association representing more than 100 carbon management companies working together to responsibly restore the climate and make a gigaton-scale climate impact.

Ben is regularly featured in National Media Outlets, including Bloomberg, Axios, Politico and the Hill. He speaks on national and international stages about responsibly scaling the carbon removal market.

Some of the highlights from this episode:

• Buyer resources through Carbon Business Council and The Carbon Herald partnership
• Importance of science-based communication: 3 ‘R’s of climate: remove, reduce, resilience
• The need for better education of critical stakeholders on risks and benefits of CDR
• Unique buyer journeys and resources (CBC/BMWF paper on buyer experience)
• Concept Of ‘Twin Targets’ For Net Zero Pledge: reduction and removal (joint letter and OpEd)
• Critical Need For Demand-Side Support: public-led procurement (CDC paper this autumn)
• Scaling to gigaton levels: increasing demand and supply
• Communities for learning about CDR

-Relevant Links-

• Ben Rubin’s LinkedIn
• Carbon Business Council

Join The CDR Procurement Guide Community! We want to invite you to connect with us on WhatsApp and help co-create the content that will be most helpful to you and others in the CDR buyer community. We need your feedback on what we produce and your suggestions on what we need to produce to help us help you. Engage in conversations on topics from the shows or topics you want to see in the shows, invite other buyers and be a part of our active community discussions!

-Join the WhatsApp community-

In this episode of CDR Procurement Guide, Eli spoke with Greg Nemet Professor and Director of La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Greg specializes in energy systems, negative emissions, and climate policy. He is a leading voice in the development of CDR at the scale required and is a lead author of the State of CDR Report, first published in 2023, with a second edition recently published. He has been one of the leading scientific thought leaders on carbon removal as a climate change mitigation tool.

Highlights from this episode:

• The importance of objective evidence based information about carbon removal, what it is and what it isn’t and the diverse and increasing range of solutions
• The need for society to engage with a broad portfolio of solutions at this stage of development to give the greatest chance of success.
• Why climate science so challenging to communicate and what will help build a strong social license for CDR
• The goal of The State of CDR report and data portal to put the information needed in the hands of those that need it to facilitate the rapid development of CDR
• The 4 gigaton CDR gap and how to fill it
• How new technologies develop and move through the formative proving stage through deployment and adoption
• The need to get to a global standard equivalent to what we have for financial accounting (GAAP), converging from the 102 standards and protocols today
• The important features of effective government policy
• The value of learning by doing to gain experience and start to establish market practices
• The challenge: lessons from the industrial scale up of ammonia synthesis
• The need to scale up capacity now across the range of CDR solutions in order to meet 2050 goals. The role of absorptive capacity.

-Relevant Links-

• Greg Nemet’s LinkedIn
• Greg Nemet’s website
• The State of CDR Report
• CDR infogrphaphic

Join The CDR Procurement Guide Community! We want to invite you to connect with us on WhatsApp and help co-create the content that will be most helpful to you and others in the CDR buyer community. We need your feedback on what we produce and your suggestions on what we need to produce to help us help you. Engage in conversations on topics from the shows or topics you want to see in the shows, invite other buyers and be a part of our active community discussions!

-Join the WhatsApp community-

In this episode of CDR Procurement Guide, Eli spoke with Robert Höglund, the leading CDR influencer.

Robert Höglund is an advisor in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and climate policy. He manages the charitable Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund, co-founded the CDR market overview CDR.fyi, and writes regularly on carbon removal and corporate climate contributions. For Carbon Gap he co-authored the report Bridging the Ambition Gap. He is also a member of the EU Expert Group on Carbon Removals (observer status), and of the Science-based Target initiative’s (SBTi) Technical Advisory Group. Robert previously headed Oxfam Sweden’s policy and communications team and founded the Climate Goal Initiative in Sweden.

CDR.fyi is the largest open data platform dedicated to providing information durable carbon removal. Our goal is to equip market participants, policymakers, consultants, academic researchers, and capital allocators with up-to-date, accurate data on the CDR industry to guide investment and help sustainably scale the solution.

Some of the highlights from this episode:

• Simple ways to understand CDR
• No reason to fear CDR. Comparing carbon removal with the early development of other industries
• Scaling challenges. Highlighting the need for increased buyer participation to scale carbon removal efforts.
• Role of carbon pricing. Putting a price on carbon allows investment in reduction and removal.
• Call for universal action. Advocates for widespread support, even by individuals purchasing just one tonne of carbon removal.

-Relevant Links-

• Robert’s LinkedIn
• Robert’s Illuminum page
• Carbon Gap Report: Bridging the Ambition gap: A framework for scaling corporate funds for carbon removal and wider climate action
• CDR.fyi
• Milkywire [Klana] Case Study
• Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund
• How to set an internal carbon fee

Join The CDR Procurement Guide Community! We want to invite you to connect with us on WhatsApp and help co-create the content that will be most helpful to you and others in the CDR buyer community. We need your feedback on what we produce and your suggestions on what we need to produce to help us help you. Engage in conversations on topics from the shows or topics you want to see in the shows, invite other buyers and be a part of our active community discussions!

-Join the WhatsApp community-

In this episode of The CDR Procurement Guide, Eli spoke with Marian Krueger Co-Founder & Managing Director of remove.

remove is Europe's leading whole ecosystem accelerator program, focused on maximizing the potential of the best CDR market solutions through support for early-stage startups from across the region, and now beyond. A non-profit program supported by leading climate investors and philanthropists, they support startups in all CDR pathways with funding, entrepreneurship and CDR expert coaching and in parallel contribute to the creation of a supportive European CDR ecosystem.

Marian is a climate entrepreneur and a CDR ecosystem enabler. He's dedicated his career to the development of CDR and has been a key instrumental figure in the development of the European CDR community. He sits at the intersection of science and market solutions, starting with thought leadership in one of Europe's foremost academic institutions (ETH Zurich) and acting as a conductor of the flow of talent and ideas into an emerging market. Marian Krueger could best be described as an impact entrepreneur: first as a venture developer at the German green utility, Innogy; then founding his own startup, Ucair, to increase photovoltaic yield using drones and AI data analytics; he then went on to join ETH Zurich’s Sustainability in Business Lab, ETH sus.lab, as Decarbonisation Lead, where he co-founded the remove accelerator.

Marian holds two Masters degrees, one in education and one in behavioral economics and sustainability from the London School of Economics. He is also the book author for the CDR buyer community, published for the German speaking market, titled ‘Race to Zero’.

Some of the highlights from this episode:

• Why it’s so important for decision-makers to engage in CDR early and understand the science and economics. There is no substitute for seeing CDR solutions physically. Seeing is believing!
• The different approaches to buying, either building internal expertise or working with external experts.
• Why we should not see a choice between emissions reduction or carbon removal, but pursue both in parallel.
• The need for C-level support for CDR purchases from the outset.
• Marian’s belief that there are strategic opportunities from being early to CDR procurement beyond meeting public commitments of meeting net zero by a date and removing historical emissions.

-Relevant Links-

• Marian’s LinkedIn
• remove Accelerator’s website
• Race to Zero
• Microsoft procurement process/learnings
• ETH sus.lab/BMW Foundation From Awareness to Action: The Six Building Blocks for Purchasing Carbon Removal
• Carbon Gap Envisioning a carbon removal strategy for Europe

Join The CDR Procurement Guide Community! We want to invite you to connect with us on WhatsApp and help co-create the content that will be most helpful to you and others in the CDR buyer community. We need your feedback on what we produce and your suggestions on what we need to produce to help us help you. Engage in conversations on topics from the shows or topics you want to see in the shows, invite other buyers and be a part of our active community discussions!

-Join the WhatsApp community-