JP Morgan Chase and Climeworks landmark CDR agreement heralds new standard in voluntary carbon market for direct air capture

JP Morgan Chase and Climeworks landmark CDR agreement heralds new standard in voluntary carbon market for direct air capture

News | 23.05.2023

Key take-aways:

• Climeworks and JPMorgan Chase announce one of the largest purchases to date in the direct air capture industry (DAC) between a single corporate buyer and a single CDR company - valued above USD 20M.
• The magnitude of the agreement demonstrates clear support for Climeworks' high-quality, high-integrity approach to CDR with operational, measurable, additional, and permanent carbon removal services via DAC+S.
• It also heralds the new standard for voluntary carbon market offtake agreements for DAC: companies' immediate actions play a crucial role in achieving net zero targets and represent an essential component of the financing mechanisms needed for new, larger projects.
• In this maturing market, a few corporate off-takers secure a portion of CDR services from future plants to support deployment, de-risk project development, and act as catalysts for other corporate buyers.
• Brian DiMarino of JPMorgan Chase will join Climeworks' Direct Air Capture Summit on June 6 in Zurich to share more about the firm's approach to this agreement with Climeworks and their action plan on high-quality technological removals.

The milestone agreement with JP Morgan Chase shows clear support for Climeworks' operational, measurable, additional, and permanent CDR service via DAC+S.

Climeworks, a global leader in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) via direct air capture and storage (DAC+S), announces one of the largest purchases of CDR services from a corporate buyer to date.

Valued above USD 20M, the agreement demonstrates the bank's support for Climeworks' high-quality and high-integrity approach centered on a measurable, 100% additional, and permanent removal of CO₂.

The action taken by corporate buyers today is essential for CDR companies to bring to life the economies of scale that are needed by 2050. For buyers, building long-term relations in this supply constrained market now is key to access sufficient, high-quality supply in the decades to come.

This agreement heralds a new standard for the voluntary carbon market. Agreements of this magnitude and beyond are what is immediately needed and expected from corporate buyers going from net zero plans to net zero progress. They enable the capacity build-up that we all need to fight global warming at scale, in line with the latest climate science - complementing emissions reductions and as part of a portfolio of solutions.

On the project development side, such agreements are an essential component of the equation that enables project developers and solution providers such as Climeworks to bring new, larger projects to life. A few corporate off-takers securing a portion (in the range of 5-10%) of a future plant's lifetime capacity in advance purchases of CDR services enables de-risking project development, securing additional financing, and act as catalysts for other corporate buyers.

A more mature, functional market will support deployment-led innovation and propel CDR solutions at the speed and scale required to achieve an annual gigaton-scale removal capacity by 2050.

Climeworks is honored to welcome Brian DiMarino, Managing Director, Head of Operational Sustainability at JP Morgan Chase & Co., as a keynote speaker at its upcoming Direct Air Capture Summit on June 6 in Zurich. Brian will provide valuable insights into how the firm sees its role in signaling to stakeholders that procuring high-quality CDR solutions, such as Climeworks', is an essential, and immediate next step to take, with corporates acting as change agents to realize CDR capacity at scale tomorrow.

"Innovative technologies play an increasingly important role in the transition to a low-carbon economy. At JPMorgan Chase, we prioritize reducing our own environmental footprint. To complement our operational emissions reduction efforts, we're collaborating with companies like Climeworks to address our unabated emissions today and, crucially, to support the development of scalable solutions that the world needs to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050," said Brian DiMarino.

Advancing high-quality carbon removal solutions:

Let's remove CO₂ together