Key take-aways
- Climeworks provides third-party verified CDR services, performed at Orca, to its first corporate customers: Microsoft, Shopify and Stripe. Climeworks CDR services were verified by DNV, an independent quality and assurance leader, after a successful audit.
- The verification is based on a rigorous direct air capture & storage (DAC+S) methodology, which was co-developed by Climeworks and Carbfix, and validated by DNV in 2022 (downloadable here). Verification means that DNV confirms Climeworks CDR services performed at Orca followed this methodology, and that the removals were properly measured and reported.
- Climeworks’ track record in technology deployment made the delivery of verified CDR services possible: Climeworks has put more than 15 projects into operation across Europe, including Orca, the world’s only commercial DAC+S plant. The resulting field experience enabled the creation and implementation of the methodology, leading to the world’s first third-party verification of CDR services via DAC+S.
- Delivering third-party verified CDR services is also an important achievement for the DAC industry more broadly: DAC needs to scale drastically over the coming decades, and industry-wide standards are needed to build the trust that is required for this to happen. Climeworks hopes to lead as an example for peers, customers and policy makers alike that are committed to climate action.
Climeworks’ progress on MRV: from validating Climeworks’ DAC methodology in June 2021 to delivering verified CDR services, performed at Orca, in December 2022 – based on the world’s first full-chain DAC+S methodology, co-developed with Carbfix.
The duality of scaling both operations and standards
Climeworks recognizes this path as the right one for the entire CDR market. There is no doubt that high-integrity standards will be catalytic – and ultimately enforced – to build and operate the market successfully on gigaton scale. Climeworks is determined to show that it is possible, and believes it is necessary, to scale operations and standards at the same time, not sequentially.
“On Climeworks' journey to gigaton scale, providing our first corporate customers with CDR services is an exciting milestone we're proud to reach with the rigorous validation of a 3rd party. It demonstrates we want to do the right things but also do them the right way. Scaling our operations fast is only one part of the Climeworks mission. The other part is that this scale-up follows high standards, guaranteeing our customers they can trust our CDR to be of highest quality, meaning additional, highly durable, and safe”, says Christoph Gebald, co-CEO and co-founder of Climeworks.
High-integrity standards as a prerequisite for trust
“To stay within the limits of the Paris Agreement, the scale-up of global DAC capacities must happen fast. To do so we need to continue to ensure trust in carbon removal, the DAC industry and the carbon market. Clear definitions and industry standards of what CDR is as well as clear rules on key criteria such as durability, additionality, and measurability are needed. At Climeworks, we strive for the highest integrity by setting and following stringent standards to earn this trust, and the performance of our first verified CDR services are another proof point of this. We want to lead by example and to be a reliable partner to customers and policymakers”, comments Christoph Beuttler, Chief Climate Policy Officer at Climeworks.
DNV verifies Climeworks CDR Services performed at Orca followed the previously validated methodology, and that the removals were properly measured and reported. DNV confirms that the CDR allocated to a customer cannot be double-counted and matches with performed and available quantities of verified Climeworks CDR Services. This accuracy is confirmed to the customer in two ways: via Climeworks CDR Services Delivery Note as well as DNV’s delivery certificate.
Delivering on the commitment to our customers
Corporate climate leaders have led the way in catalyzing the CDR industry and Climeworks is proud of delivering on its commitment to them. Climeworks’ verified CDR services were provided to some of its first large, corporate customers.
"Developing a rigorous methodology and sharing it publicly is a critical step to build trust with carbon removal buyers like Shopify - it gives us confidence that what we’re paying for is actually happening," says Stacy Kauk, Head of Sustainability at Shopify. "Climeworks is tackling this challenge head-on with its DAC+S methodology, and we are ecstatic to take delivery of our first batch of carbon removals from Orca knowing that we are getting exactly what we expected when we partnered with Climeworks in 2020.”
Zeke Hausfather, Climate Research Lead at Stripe comments: “Today’s announcement of Climeworks' first verified deliveries is an important step for DAC, and it represents the culmination of years of investment from the Climeworks team.”
“Microsoft is proud to be one of the first corporate customers to receive Climeworks certified carbon dioxide removal services. As both an investor in and customer of Climeworks, we know it is imperative to continue growing the carbon dioxide removal and storage markets for the world, as well as for achieving our company's own ambitious climate targets: to be carbon negative by 2030 and to remove our historical emissions since the company's founding by 2050”, says Phillip Goodman, Director, Carbon Removal Portfolio, Microsoft.
Climeworks will continue to work on achieving the highest possible integrity for its solutions and welcomes public and industry experts to contribute to the conversation by reaching out at certification@climeworks.com.
Editor's note: This press release was updated on May 4, 2023.
About Climeworks
Climeworks empowers people and companies to fight global warming by offering carbon dioxide removal as a service via direct air capture (DAC) technology. At Orca, Climeworks’ DAC facility in Iceland, the CO2 is permanently removed from the air by capturing and geologically storing it for thousands of years with Climeworks’ storage partner Carbfix. Climeworks’ DAC facilities run exclusively on clean energy, and our modular CO2 collectors can be stacked to build machines of any capacity.
Founded by engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher in 2009, Climeworks is on a journey to climate impact at scale. To do so, we strive to inspire 1 billion people to act and remove CO2 from the air. Climeworks is spear-heading the DAC industry globally, with the world’s largest DAC facility and storage installation in operation and a team of 300 Climeworkers determined to contribute to a net-zero future. Our growing customer base includes over 160 companies, including multinationals such as Microsoft, BCG, UBS or Swiss Re, as well as more than 18,000 individual Climate Pioneers.