Not Just Voluntary Credits: Three CDR Demand Trends to Support and Scale

The document argues that relying solely on voluntary corporate credits is insufficient for scaling CDR and proposes three diversified demand pathways: credit purchasing through government procurement and compliance markets, demand for differentiated low-carbon products enabled by carbon accounting and 'Buy Clean' policies, and 'flipping the script' by funding services where CDR is a co-product, such as wildfire prevention or waste management.

• A significant portion of planned high-durability CDR capacity is currently at risk due to a lack of financial commitments and offtake agreements.
• Credit purchasing is diversifying through Advance Market Commitments (AMCs) and government procurement. Examples include Frontier Climate, a $1 billion corporate commitment for durable removal, and Canada's commitment to purchase at least CAD $10 million of CDR by 2030 via its Low-carbon Fuel Procurement Program.
• Emissions trading schemes (ETS) provide a pathway for CDR integration. While the EU ETS does not currently include CDR, Japan's Green Transformation ETS (GX-ETS) allows up to 5% of emissions to be covered by CDR credits.
• Demand for CDR can be driven by the creation of differentiated, lower-emissions products. This is enabled by 'Buy Clean' policies, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs), and product labeling, which allow companies to value 'in-chain' removals in materials like concrete and steel.
• The 'flip the script' model generates CDR demand by funding non-climate priorities where carbon removal is a by-product. Examples include using forest thinning waste for biochar to reduce wildfire risk on the US West Coast, and using BiCRS for municipal biosolid waste management in Kansas.
• Industrial and agricultural synergies offer scaling opportunities, such as using surficial mineralization to manage hazardous mine tailings in Canada or employing enhanced rock weathering for soil pH management in Brazil's agricultural sector.

APA

Weaver, E., Khandelwal, K., Vinson, V., & Kiser, B. (2026). Not Just Voluntary Credits: Three CDR Demand Trends to Support and Scale. RMI. https://rmi.org/resources/not-just-voluntary-credits-three-cdr-demand-trends-to-support-and-scale/

Chicago

Weaver, Eli, Kunal Khandelwal, Vera Vinson, and Bella Kiser. Not Just Voluntary Credits: Three CDR Demand Trends to Support and Scale. RMI, 2026. https://rmi.org/resources/not-just-voluntary-credits-three-cdr-demand-trends-to-support-and-scale/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Weaver |first1=Eli |last2=Khandelwal |first2=Kunal |last3=Vinson |first3=Vera |last4=Kiser |first4=Bella |title=Not Just Voluntary Credits: Three CDR Demand Trends to Support and Scale |publisher=RMI |date=14 May 2026 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/not-just-voluntary-credits-three-cdr-demand-trends-to-support-and-scale/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{weaver2026not, author = {Weaver, Eli and Khandelwal, Kunal and Vinson, Vera and Kiser, Bella}, title = {{Not Just Voluntary Credits: Three CDR Demand Trends to Support and Scale}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/not-just-voluntary-credits-three-cdr-demand-trends-to-support-and-scale/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }