Internationalisation of CDR Markets - Lashof

In this episode of Reviewer 2 Does Geoengineering, @geoengineering1 speaks with Daniel Lashof of the World Resources Institute (WRI) about the internationalisation of carbon dioxide removal markets and the policies needed to scale carbon removal globally.

Lashof discusses how US policy support, including the 45Q tax credit and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, helped stimulate investment in carbon removal startups, and how subsequent policy reversals under President Trump have affected market growth and corporate demand. Against this backdrop, the conversation explores how governments elsewhere are developing policy frameworks to support CDR, including Denmark’s Group of Negative Emitters, Sweden’s €3 billion bio-CCS reverse auction, the EU’s carbon removal certification framework and Brazil’s emerging carbon market.

The discussion also examines measurement, reporting and verification challenges across direct air capture, enhanced rock weathering, ocean-based CDR and biomass-based approaches, alongside sustainability concerns, the controversies surrounding Drax and the risk of unintended incentives, as illustrated by biofuels. Drawing on WRI’s analysis of international CDR policies, Lashof considers how government procurement, tax credits, research funding, certification standards and predictable long-term policies can strengthen both supply and demand.

Finally, he discusses what it would take to scale CDR to gigaton levels, highlighting the potential role of mandatory policies that require polluters to pay for durable carbon removal. He emphasises that CDR must complement, rather than substitute for, rapid emissions reductions in meeting global climate goals.

Article Discussed: Lashof, D., Riedl, D., & Schumer, C. As the US Carbon Dioxide Removal Market Retreats, Other Governments Step Up. World Resources Institute (WRI). https://www.wri.org/insights/carbon-dioxide-removal-policies-frameworks