Wednesday, December 20, 2023
CUR8, a UK-based company committed to expanding the global market for carbon removals, has partnered with UNDO, a leading UK-founded carbon dioxide removal project developer specializing in enhanced rock weathering, as well as British Airways and Standard Chartered. Together, they have initiated a pioneering financing pilot aimed at facilitating the growth of the carbon removals market. According to the IPCC, financial solutions of this nature are essential for the carbon removals market to achieve the multi-billion-tonne scale required to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees.
Carbon removal involves extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and securely storing it for extended periods, ideally spanning centuries. Various approaches exist, ranging from storing carbon in trees and soils to capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air and durably storing it underground or through enhanced rock weathering.
Despite the industry’s nascent stage, exponential scaling is imperative to meet climate targets and attain net-zero emissions. However, securing funding, especially for promising methods, can be challenging. While grants and venture capital are commonly available in the early stages, traditional banking products necessary for large-scale operations, such as commercial debt, are often scarce. CUR8, supported by GV (Google Ventures), specializes in sourcing high-quality carbon removal credits globally and is working to boost demand for these credits by enabling multi-year purchases for buyers and addressing working capital challenges for suppliers, a common bottleneck in achieving commercial scale. As part of this initiative, British Airways is committing to purchasing over 4,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits from UNDO through enhanced rock weathering, with Standard Chartered poised to be the banking partner.
The pilot’s objective is to establish a blueprint that enables ambitious carbon removal suppliers to scale up with increased capital through debt financing secured by advanced purchase agreements based on future client demand. This approach aims to move suppliers away from reliance on customized financing structures, meet their working capital needs, and establish a credit history. CUR8 plans to leverage insights from this pilot to develop additional scale-up financing products for the carbon removals industry.
Carrie Harris, Director of Sustainability at British Airways, emphasized the role of carbon removals in their strategy to achieve net-zero emissions and expressed enthusiasm for participating in this groundbreaking pilot. While the initial purchase is relatively modest, the partnership aims to pave the way for future investments in carbon removals, contributing to the acceleration of technology scale-up. Marta Krupinska, CEO & Co-Founder at CUR8, highlighted the necessity of innovative financing to match rapid technological advancements, emphasizing the importance of debt financing alongside venture capital for scalability in carbon removals.
Marisa Drew, Chief Sustainability Officer at Standard Chartered, affirmed the bank’s commitment to carbon removals and acknowledged their critical role in achieving net-zero targets. The bank looks forward to partnering with like-minded entities to develop financing structures that support providers in scaling up and accessing increased capital for carbon removal at a faster pace.
Jim Mann, Founder and CEO at UNDO, underscored the robustness of their carbon dioxide removal solution and its scalability, emphasizing the need for progressive partnerships like the one with British Airways to meet the aviation industry’s demand for high-quality carbon removal. Mann stressed the importance of such partnerships for the carbon removal market to scale and reach the IPCC’s goal of removing 10 billion tonnes of carbon annually by 2050.
Tags: british airways, CUR8, Standard Chartered, UNDO
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