Microsoft Bought 93% of All Carbon Removal Credits Last Year
New data from BloombergNEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy confirms what many suspected: Microsoft is essentially the carbon removal market. The tech giant purchased 93% of all global CDR credits in 2025, driven by its pledge to remove every tonne of CO₂ the company has emitted since 1975.
That kind of anchor buying — paying $500+ per tonne for high-quality DAC and engineered removal — is keeping startups like Climeworks and Heirloom alive and scaling. But one buyer propping up an entire sector isn’t a strategy. It’s a lifeline. Governments need to step up as procurement partners if this market is going to mature beyond Microsoft’s goodwill. (Latitude Media)
🌊 Gulf of Maine Ocean Alkalinity Trial: CO₂ Removed, No Immediate Harm
Researchers dissolved sodium hydroxide into coastal waters off Maine and measured removal of up to 10 tonnes of CO₂ — with no detectable acute harm to marine life. It’s a small-scale proof of concept, not a green light for deployment, but it’s real-world data on a pathway that’s been mostly theoretical until now. Longer trials, broader monitoring, and the sticky question of ocean governance still lie ahead. (AllToc)
🇸🇦 Climeworks Deepens Saudi DAC Partnership
Climeworks signed a new MOU with Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu to move from feasibility studies toward a DAC demonstration plant. A mobile test unit at Jubail Industrial College has been collecting data for three months, confirming strong performance in coastal conditions — after earlier tests in Riyadh’s arid desert also delivered. The Kingdom is positioning itself as a serious DAC deployment location. (Carbon Herald)
🇺🇸 Carbon TerraVault Eyes California’s First CO₂ Injection
CRC subsidiary Carbon TerraVault completed construction at its Elk Hills facility and targets first injection in spring 2026. They’ve signed MOUs for 6.8 million tonnes per year of storage capacity and submitted 352 MMT to the EPA for review. California’s CCS ambitions are getting real. (GlobeNewsWire)
🌍 UNESCO Flags “Blind Spot” in Ocean Carbon Science
A report coordinated by IOC-UNESCO — written by 72 authors across 23 countries — finds that climate models differ by 10-20% on how much carbon the ocean actually absorbs. That uncertainty directly affects emissions targets, adaptation planning, and whether ocean-based CDR can be reliably quantified. Without better monitoring, we’re making climate decisions with incomplete data. (UNESCO)
🇰🇷🇲🇲 UN Approves First Paris Agreement Carbon Credits
The UN issued its first credits under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 mechanism — a clean cooking project in Myanmar implemented with South Korea. It’s a milestone for cross-border climate finance, though critics warn these offset schemes can undermine ambition if poorly designed. (Al Jazeera)
Captain Drawdown tracks the CDR market daily. Got a tip? Find us on Bluesky.