Carbon removal (CDR) procurement and tenders

Carbon dioxide removal is moving from research grants into procurement. Governments are starting to buy removals directly, through reverse auctions and purchase programmes that pay per tonne of CO2 durably removed, and public bodies are commissioning the studies, registries and monitoring frameworks that a removals market needs. Direct air capture, bioenergy with carbon capture, biochar, enhanced rock weathering and nature-based removals all appear, often in separate lots with different durability requirements.

Removal tenders are stricter on evidence than avoidance credit purchases. Expect questions on how storage is measured and for how long, who carries the reversal risk, which methodology and registry will issue the certificates, and when the tonnes will actually be delivered. Forward offtake, where the buyer pays now or commits now for removals delivered years later, is common, so financial standing and delivery track record carry weight.

Volumes are still small and notices are infrequent, which is why this page also shows recently closed removal tenders. They show who is buying, at what scale and on what terms, and they are the best guide to what the next round will ask for.

1 open tender matches this topic today. Recently closed notices are listed after the open ones. Deadlines come from the source notice; confirm against the official document before you submit.