The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) is one of the few funding tools currently available to support the carbon removal sector. Governments around the world are working to create enabling policies for carbon removal to scale, and part of these policies focus on ensuring that carbon removal has efficacy and is working properly. Below, the Negative Emissions Platform and the Carbon Business Council summarize the latest developments in the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) on creating a robust removals market built upon trust.

Carbon removal took major steps forward in 2023, positioning 2024 to be another year of significant growth. Countries from around the world affirmed the need for carbon removal to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement at COP28. Key highlights from 2023 are summarized below in four categories and more growth in each of these areas is expected in 2024: 1) innovation from startups, 2) private sector investment, 3) enabling policies, and 4) responsible deployment. We dive into these pillars below with a lookback on 2023 and what’s ahead for 2024.

The Carbon Business Council’s summarizes our key highlights from 2023 and we look forward to building on this momentum as we head into 2024. Driven by our belief that a rising tide raises all ships as we work collaboratively to make a gigaton-scale climate impact, CO2BC grew to more than 100 companies this year. Our coalition is strengthened by more than 20 observing organizations, including leading nonprofits, investors, and more.

COP28 has resulted in a Global Stocktake that signals that the world should replace fossil fuels with clean energy by 2050 for global net zero. While there were hopes for greater clarity and more ambition, COP28 did see significant steps forward for climate action, including a pledge from more than 100 countries to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity by 2030 and mobilizing more than $57 billion in climate capital. 

The Carbon Business Council (CO2BC) is thrilled to be participating in COP28. Our team will be elevating the important role that innovators play in reaching gigaton scale carbon removal and the importance of removals working in tandem with mitigation. Below, we summarize the highlights, events our coalition is participating in, and key carbon removal themes to keep an eye on during the international climate negotiations.  

The Carbon Business Council published a white paper about Digital Infrastructure for Carbon Removal. Developed by a working group of Carbon Business Council members and affiliates and published with generous support from the Climate Collective, the white paper outlines key challenges the carbon removal sector faces; identifies opportunities where digital infrastructure can offer solutions to help address these challenges; and puts forth a set of focused recommendations for the carbon removal sector on the adoption of digital technologies.

The Carbon Business Council (CO2BC), a nonprofit trade association of more than 100 carbon removal and management companies, released the Carbon Dioxide Removal Responsible Deployment Training (CDR RDT) today, an interactive online training and suite of resources to support project developers with the responsible deployment of carbon removal. XPRIZE Carbon Removal is requiring a certificate of completion of the foundational online training for companies competing for the remaining $80 million in funding as part of the landmark competition to accelerate gigatonne-scale carbon removal innovation.

This Carbon Removal Market Insights Report provides a playbook for business leaders who are interested in evaluating and purchasing carbon removals to achieve their climate goals and reduce climate-harmful emissions. It also aims to provide a better understanding of what carbon removal is and of the industry as a whole. It is co-authored by the BMW Foundation and Carbon Business Council.

A guest member essay about scaling global carbon removals with BECCS, by Ross McKenzie, Group Corporate Affairs Director of Drax Group: “The climate crisis is coming at us full speed, and if we are to overcome it then we need to take action now. Reducing emissions continues to be crucial but it is no longer enough. We need to actively remove gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it away permanently.”

Nori published a white paper about a “blended tonne” earlier this summer. We sat down with Radhika Moolgavkar at Nori to unpack what the blended tonne is all about and what’s ahead for Nori. Nori is a carbon removal marketplace and recently joined the Carbon Business Council as a Cornerstone member.

NextGen, South Pole, NextGen and Mitsubishi Corporation’s Joint Venture recently announced the purchase of more than 193,000 tons of carbon removal credits — one of the largest in carbon removal history. The Carbon Business Council team sat down with Philip Moss, Chairperson of NextGen and Global Director of Tech Carbon Removals at South Pole, to unpack this news and discuss the removals market.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced new initiatives and funding to scale carbon removal this week. The funding includes $1.2 billion in awards for the Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs, focused on direct air capture (DAC) projects that have the potential to remove 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. The Carbon Business Council, a nonprofit coalition of more than 100 carbon management companies, has issued the following statement in response. The statement can be attributed to Ben Rubin, Executive Director.

The Carbon Business Council (CO2BC), a nonprofit trade association of companies and organizations unified to restore the climate, celebrates its one-year anniversary by growing the coalition to more than 110 companies and organizations. CO2BC’s membership base has combined assets of more than $16.5 billion dollars focused on scaling carbon management. “We launched the Carbon Business Council with the core belief that a rising tide can raise all ships as we work together to make a gigaton-scale climate impact,” said Ben Rubin, Executive Director and Co-Founder of CO2BC. “With a membership base that’s more than doubled since our inception and multiple proof points for successful collaboration, the Carbon Business Council is a platform to bring innovators together and unlock gigaton-scale solutions.”

The Carbon Business Council recently released a series of issue briefs on essential topics to unlock gigaton scale carbon removal. The briefs were developed by working groups of leading carbon removal companies and experts. Each of the following briefs presents a unique and important opportunity to responsibly scale carbon removal. We invite you to subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest. Questions or comments? Let us know at info@carbonbusinesscouncil.org.

More than 100 carbon removal experts submitted a letter to the UNFCCC’s Article 6.4 Supervisory Body about how carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is an essential component for a just energy transition and to limit warming to 1.5 °C. Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement shapes the future of how global carbon markets operate. In response to proposed guidance from the Supervisory Body, the letter urges the UNFCCC to adopt the IPCC definition of CDR, and a method-neutral, criteria-based approach to determine CDR project’ eligibility under the Article 6.4 mechanism.