CDR Monthly Recap - October 2025

We are back with another edition of the CDR Monthly Recap, a monthly round-up of some of the top news, developments, and market updates from the world of durable carbon removal.

After a slow September, the durable CDR market in October saw nearly 490,000 tonnes of CDR contracted, led by deals from Arca, UNDO, Microsoft, and Altitude.

New projects, partnerships, and large funding opportunities, as well as announcements, continue to drive momentum for the industry ahead, alongside various events in the field.

We are excited to announce that we recently released the 2025 Q3 Durable CDR Market Update, in which we analyze and uncover some key trends from the durable carbon removal market, across areas such as sales, deliveries, purchaser trends, investments, and retirements

Read on to learn more below!

CDR.fyi DAC Market Snapshot 2025 H1
Explore insights from the DAC Market Snapshot (2025H1) to understand the dynamics behind DAC's role in the state of the durable CDR market.

Deals and Partnerships

[Image source: Arca]

Deals

Canadian mineralization company Arca signed an agreement to supply 293,579 tonnes of CDR to Microsoft over 10 years. Arca will deliver durable CDR credits through its mineralization process at its first commercial projects, repurposing byproducts of mining.

CDR financier Altitude secured 120,000 tonnes of CO₂ Removal Certificates (CORCs) from biochar-based CDR facilities in West Africa. The credits will be issued via the Puro.earth Registry.

Bain & Company signed an agreement to purchase CDR credits from German Enhanced Weathering company ZeroEx. This is part of Bain’s net zero strategy and Beyond Value Chain Mitigation initiative to remove more CO₂ than it emits each year.

UNDO signed an agreement with Microsoft to supply 28,900 tonnes of CDR from enhanced weathering, supported by a novel debt facility from Inlandsis, a Canadian climate fund. This is the first CDR deal structured with debt capital in the industry.

German shipping company NSB Group entered into a multi-year agreement to purchase CDR credits from direct air capture (DAC) company Phlair. The deal is part of NSB’s goal to address residual emissions from its onshore maritime operations.

Partnerships

Supercritical announced that it has listed Denmark-based BioCirc as the first BECCS project on its marketplace. The project is expected to remove nearly 1 million tonnes of CO₂ over its lifetime and is one of the most rigorously vetted in the market.

Japanese company TOWING entered a strategic partnership with Thailand’s SCG Cement to apply microbial cultivation technology to SCG Cement's expanding biochar business, thereby boosting soil health and sustainable agriculture in the region.

Charm Industrial partnered with Mangrove Systems to upgrade its digital carbon removal measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) digital infrastructure.

The Carbon Business Council announced that it will convene and lead the next phase of the Enhanced Weathering Alliance (EWA), increasing coalition activity to advance enhanced weathering for climate impact and agricultural resilience.

ADM and Super6 Carbon signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to produce CDR credits through the permanent storage of captured CO₂ at ADM's carbon capture and storage (CCS) site in Decatur, Illinois.

SeaO₂, Carbyon, Skytree, and Paebbl launched a coalition of Direct Air Capture and Direct Ocean Capture startups, presenting a policy paper at the European Commission that advocates for the technologies to help scale Europe’s climate ambitions.

Nordbex entered into a partnership with Aker Solutions to co-develop bioenergy with carbon capture, use and storage (BECCS) plants across Europe. Aker will provide project management while Nordbex will lead as project developer.

Agendi launched its inaugural durable CDR portfolio with Isometric, offering transparent high-integrity credits from project developers across methods (Sirona Technologies, InPlanet and Carboneers) along with independent verification through Isometric and Puro.earth.

SQUAKE partnered with Deep Sky to offer clients direct access to MRV-backed carbon removal credits with verified storage on its platform, enabling traceable procurement aligned with internal targets and audits.

Industry associations Negative Emissions Platform, France’s AFEN and Germany’s DVNE partnered to launch a joint membership for companies, pooling networks and policy advocacy to accelerate Europe’s CDR market.

Supercritical launched a new streamlined purchasing flow for carbon credits, starting with Exomad Green. It will now allow buyers to select the number of credits and instantly generate a contract, review and sign it digitally, and pay securely via invoice.

Puro.earth signed a Letter of Intent with Indonesia’s climate agencies to advance biochar methodology and support high-impact carbon removal and reduction projects across the region.

Supercritical invited biochar project developers to its winter cohort, offering support to early-stage teams with scalable sites, traceable feedstock, and robust pyrolysis tech for carbon credits.

CarbonCapture Inc. announced that its subsidiary True North Carbon will deploy its Tamarack DAC system at Deep Sky Alpha in Alberta, targeting a capacity to remove up to 2,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, once operational.

India-based company Mati Carbon received an AApre rating from BeZero Carbon, marking the highest for an Indian climate tech project and validating its farmer-first approach to Enhanced Weathering.

Ebb Carbon began operations at Project Macoma in Port Angeles, Washington, to demonstrate how its carbon removal method can reduce local ocean acidification while removing atmospheric CO₂ via electrochemical alkalinity enhancement.

Skytree unveiled a DAC system that produces beverage-grade liquid CO₂ on-site for drinks makers, cutting supply-chain risk and emissions while meeting industry purity specs for carbonation and packaging operations.

Carbo Culture announced ARC Middenmeer, a new commercial biochar facility in the Netherlands, designed for permanent carbon removal and generating renewable energy from biomass.

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Projects

[Image source: True North Carbon]

Carbo Culture announced ARC Middenmeer, a new commercial biochar facility in the Netherlands, designed for permanent carbon removal and generating renewable energy from biomass.

Varaha achieved Asia’s first registry-backed Enhanced Weathering (EW) carbon credit issuance via Puro.earth. The issuance stems from Varaha’s first EW deployment in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, working with cotton-growing smallholder farmers.

Ghana-based Truecoco announced that it has been officially certified by Puro.earth and has started to issue CDR credits. It has also become the first Puro-certified project in West Africa and the first to use coconut husk as its feedstock.

Deep Sky unveiled plans for a new DAC facility in Manitoba, Canada, targeting removal of 500,000 tonnes of CO₂/year at full scale. The facility is expected to cost CAD500 million, and construction for the first phase will begin in 2026.

Biochar CDR Market Snapshot
Explore insights from the Biochar Carbon Removal Market Snapshot 2025 to understand purchasing trends, delivery vs. retirement dynamics, and what’s shaping biochar’s role in durable carbon removal.

Financing

[Image source: Arbor]

Arbor Energy raised $55 million in Series A funding, co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Voyager Ventures, with participation from Gigascale Capital and Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

mCDR company Vycarb raised $5 million in seed funding led by Twynam, along with participation from MOL Switch, Hatch Blue, Clocktower, Idemitsu and SGInnovate. The funding will help Vycarb scale its deployment pipeline and flagship pilot in New York.

Biosorra secured $3.5 million led by atmosfair and Fondo Nimbus. The fresh investment will help Biosorra expand biochar production in Kenya and generate carbon removal credits, while supporting regenerative agriculture for local communities.

Tencent announced 50 global finalists for its CarbonX 2.0 program, offering $28 million in catalytic funding to scale breakthrough climate technologies across CDR, CCUS-for-steel, utilization, and Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES).

NorthX Climate Tech invested CAD 3.4 million in 4 Canadian CDR companies (CarbonRun, Skyrenu Technologies, NULIFE Greentech, and pHathom Technologies) through its Call for CDR Innovation funding opportunity, launched earlier this year.

remove announced the selection of 15 startups that are part of the 2nd cohort of its India CDR Accelerator Program. The selected teams will be supported through 2 rounds across 8 months on navigating through the CDR space across different areas.

Carbon180 awarded grants to three coastal teams to support marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) efforts that prioritize Indigenous knowledge, environmental justice, and community-led deployment.

Pricing Mismatch in Durable CDR
Explore insights from the Durable CDR Pricing Survey, conducted in partnership with OPIS, to help market participants better understand pricing expectations for durable CDR credits.

Policy

[Image source: U.S. Department of Energy]

The U.S. Department of Energy cancelled funding for 10 out of 21 federally supported direct air capture (DAC) hubs amid $7.5 billion clean-energy cuts, citing viability concerns, along with hydrogen projects across the US.

The Singapore government’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) launched a request for proposals for carbon credits from projects (including carbon removal) to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.

Carbonfuture published a policy brief, exploring Germany’s growing CDR landscape, breaking down how the country is integrating CDR in its net-zero strategy, funding and policy mechanisms and what early market participants can do to scale.

A cross-sector coalition with Carbon Gap, Zero Emissions Platform, Bellona, Biochar Europe, Stiesdal, and Pyrolysis Denmark, drafted a proposal on how biochar carbon removal is recognized in the EU’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation.

Carbon Removal Canada reported that based on a recent survey conducted with Carbon Business Council, 81% of Canadians view carbon removal as important, signaling broad public support for policies and investment to scale CDR nationwide.

California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill to create a $50 million CDR grant program for the state, citing budget constraints and duplication, while calling for broader climate policy alignment.

Carbonfuture published a UK climate and CDR policy brief outlining demand-creation tools, procurement pathways, and rigorous MRV to de-risk corporate purchases and position the UK as a removal leader.

Research and Reports

[Image source: Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]

Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing metal organic frameworks (MOF’s), a type of molecular architecture also used in DAC technology to selectively trap gases like CO₂ through sorbents.

Carbon Gap released its “From Targets to Tonnes” report, proposing a EU Removal Compliance System to create lasting demand for permanent CDR, modelling costs, options, and ETS-aligned timelines to mobilize investment.

XPRIZE released a report with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analyzing cost-reduction strategies from 20 carbon removal finalists, highlighting pathways to scale from kilotonnes to megatonnes over the next decade.

The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal released an insight report showing that G20 pledges on carbon removal are limited and lack credibility, urging stronger commitments for global climate goals.

Carbon Removal India Alliance (CRIA) released a whitepaper detailing how durable CDR, especially biochar and Enhanced Weathering, can jointly improve air quality, enhance soils, create rural jobs, and sequester carbon.

Puro.earth announced that it will integrate the CCS+ Initiative’s BECCS and DACCS methodologies into its certification and issuance framework to enhance the integrity and scalability of CCUS and CDR in carbon markets.

Rainbow finalized its Enhanced Weathering methodology, developed in collaboration with experts and project developers in the field. The methodology accounts for the full carbon balance, including upstream and downstream activities.

The Exponential Roadmap Initiative released a Removals Action Guide outlining six actions for businesses to integrate durable CDR across governance, targets, procurement, transparency, finance, and advocacy -to reach science-based net-zero.

The UK Government published an Independent Review of greenhouse gas removals, recommending a portfolio approach, improved governance, reduced biomass imports, and strategic mandates to meet net zero and stimulate economic growth.

The Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal released a practical guide to help researchers and practitioners engage communities effectively in ocean alkalinity enhancement and marine carbon dioxide removal efforts.

A group of 29 researchers published a review paper on DAC, reporting on its various aspects such as the technology, the state of development, policy, equity, justice, public perceptions, and monitoring, reporting, and verification.

Grant Faber published a database of 700 active CDR companies across the world, highlighting the sector’s growth, technological diversity, and the importance of durable CDR solutions in climate strategy.

International Biochar Initiative and Hamerkop released an updated guide consolidating certification guidance, MRV practices, and financing options, to standardize high-quality biochar CDR credits and lower barriers for developers.

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) approved eligibility to six CDR methodologies (plus two forest protocols), following the approval of three biochar methodologies in July.

Climeworks published a report synthesizing insights from global insurance leaders, outlining how the industry is uniquely positioned to de-risk, unlock capital, and accelerate the adoption of CDR technologies.

Leaderboard Updates - October 2025

Nearly 490,000 tonnes of durable CDR were purchased in October, following a relatively slow September that saw around 119,000 tonnes contracted.

Listed below are the August leaderboards for top suppliers and purchasers:

Supplier Leaderboard

Purchaser Leaderboard

Events Round-up - October 2025

[Image source: Imperial College/CO2RE Hub]

The CO2RE Hub held an event showcasing the UK’s carbon removal ecosystem, featuring pitches from 10–15 startups across biochar, DAC, enhanced weathering, and more, evaluated by climate investors and experts.

Carbon Gap held a webinar exploring how EU carbon removal targets can drive lasting demand. The session featured insights on compliance markets, policy design, and the role of durable CDR in meeting long-term climate goals.

Carbonfuture held a webinar focused on strategies for carbon removal suppliers navigating certification. The session covered key frameworks, challenges in MRV, and how suppliers can align with emerging standards to build trust and unlock market access.

Check out the CDR Events Calendar to stay updated with upcoming CDR events!

CDR.fyi Updates and Research

Direct Air Capture Market Snapshot | 2025

In October, we released the Direct Air Capture Market Snapshot report, in which we provide a holistic view of the dynamics behind DAC's role in the state of the durable CDR market across sales, deliveries, investment, purchaser patterns, geography, technology, and pricing, and offer our view on key questions that need to be address for DAC to scale.

For further information, kindly contact us at partners@cdr.fyi.

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Disclosure

CDR.fyi is a public benefit corporation operating globally. The company has numerous contributors, some of whom have affiliations with companies in the industry, including Milkywire, Charm Industrial, CDRJobs, DVNE and ETH. Data and content published by CDR.fyi, including This Week in CDR, this Monthly Update, and our Quarterly Market Updates, are vetted and reviewed by CDR.fyi representatives with no conflict of interest.

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