Inside the CSO Mind: What’s Holding Back the Next Wave of CDR Buyers

The next wave of CDR buyers - mid-market corporates, procurement teams, and investors - is still hesitating. While contracted CDR volumes more than tripled in 2025 (dominated by Microsoft, JP Morgan, Frontier AMC), the day-to-day reality for in-house teams looks more like regulatory uncertainties, operational frictions, and contested priorities. If we want real CDR market growth, we have to understand the pressures inside the companies that could be participating. What drives their priorities? What blocks their decisions?

To get under the surface, Eliza Erskine and I brought together 40 sustainability leaders from finance, technology, consumer goods, mobility, and other sectors for a Chatham House rule, closed-door roundtable. We focused on the three areas where the friction is most felt: stakeholders, carbon, and regulations.

Summary of CDR takeaways:

Corporate readiness to buy durable CDR grows out of how seriously companies pursue their broader net-zero goals. The organizations that measure GHG emissions rigorously, embed carbon prices, decarbonize supply chains, and align stakeholders are the same ones most likely to consider durable removal procurement.
The durable CDR industry needs to help in-house sustainability teams connect the dots on why and how procuring this category of carbon credit connects to their existing strategies, rather than positioning CDR as a separate challenge that consumes time and resources. They also need to make procurement easy, low-risk, and low-threshold.

Note: Some of the points below may not be directly relevant to the CDR ecosystem. However, we have retained the essence of the discussion to provide a holistic view of what is on the minds of sustainability leaders and how their attention may be focused on, or divided among, what they see as more urgent priorities.

Stakeholders: Ambition Clashes with Feasibility

“Tension” best describes stakeholder interactions - between external targets and business realities. Sometimes, middle management, not executive leadership, is the bottleneck. When resources tighten, earmarking funds with defensible ROI becomes essential. The group debunked the “follow the leader” approach and preferred flexibility and proactive communication to align expectations.

CDR Takeaways:

Start small, align early, and grow together.
Sustainability teams begin with a simple, low-cost, low-risk CDR purchase that fits within existing budgets and procurement frameworks (e.g., REC or PPA processes). Link early actions directly to net-zero targets to demonstrate progress and build internal confidence.

Suppliers design offerings that mirror familiar corporate workflows and provide clear ROI narratives that help sustainability leads win internal support. As trust and budgets grow, offer scalable pathways for expanding CDR commitments.

Carbon: Action over Data Perfection

Carbon accounting remains unsolved, as platforms disagree on emissions allocations. Utilities lack hourly data for companies to align with updated Scope 2 guidance. Companies want open dialogue with standard-setters (like the GHG Protocol), not surprises. Decarbonizing Scope 3 becomes easier with stakeholder alliances and incorporating a carbon price into procurement tenders. First movers prioritize action over data certainty.

CDR Takeaways:

Act together on progress, not perfection.
Sustainability teams use CDR from reputable suppliers and insurers to address residual emissions today while iterating carbon accounting and Scope 3 engagement efforts.

Suppliers help companies demonstrate credible action by offering transparent CDR procurement options with MRV rigor and adherence to stringent standards (e.g., the Oxford Offsetting Principles, Article 6, CORSIA).

Regulations: Embrace the Messy Convergence

Regulations are converging slowly, unevenly, and sometimes in reverse. The smart move is to accept the mess, use delays strategically, and work through peer spaces to share what actually works.

CDR Takeaways:

Increase confidence while planning for convergence.
Sustainability teams use this period of regulatory flux to strengthen data integrity, governance, and disclosure readiness. Partner with reputable CDR suppliers whose MRV rigor and adherence to standards (e.g., the Oxford Offsetting Principles, Article 6, CORSIA) make claims defensible and audit-ready.
Suppliers support corporate buyers by providing transparent documentation, conservative claims language, and risk-sharing structures. Help sustainability teams translate CDR procurement into compliance-ready reporting and credible climate leadership.

Meeting the Moment

The conversations inside corporate sustainability teams reveal less about resistance to durable CDR than they do about hesitation amid uncertainty, shifting regulations, political headwinds, and pressure to prove near-term ROI. Many CSOs understand the stakes but face shrinking budgets and competing priorities. Their challenge is not a lack of belief in carbon removal, but in finding clarity, confidence and trust in an emerging industry and set of solutions.

For both purchasers and suppliers, this moment calls for partnership, not pause.

Purchasers can maintain momentum by integrating CDR into existing decarbonization frameworks, using early, prudent investments to build literacy, trust, and readiness for when regulatory and market alignment returns.
Suppliers can strengthen confidence by offering transparent, compliance-ready options with rigorous MRV and conservative claims, demonstrating that durable CDR is a credible part of long-term climate strategy.

Political cycles will shift, but the climate challenge will not. The organizations that continue investing methodically, collaboratively, and with integrity will be best prepared for the inevitable tightening of climate disclosure and action. Durable carbon removal can be viewed as a hedge against policy, but it is most constructive to treat it as a core element of prudent business continuity planning.

The next wave of buyers will not emerge through persuasion, but through partnership. Sustainability teams and suppliers who approach CDR agreements as long-term collaborations built on shared learning, delivery reliability, and mutual accountability will be best positioned to scale durable solutions that not only withstand policy shifts but also prepare for the growing inevitability of climate action across markets and society.

Acknowledgments

The discussions were led by Lucas Joppa (Haveli Investments), Sandra Leyva Martinez & Gabby Leeds (Brambles), Tasha Scotnicki (Cisco), Sabrina Kaplan (IAC), Chris Low (Haleon), Chris Reed (HASI), Brendan Molony (Docusign), Caroline Corbett-Thompson (Wise), Denisse Becerra (DWS Group), and Tim Zhang (Herbalife).

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This market insight was provided by Angela Tseng, with support from Robert Höglund, Alexander Rink, Jason Grillo, and Tank Chen of team CDR.fyi.

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