Climeworks Report Maps North America's CDR Market Ahead of Climate Week NYC

Released ahead of Climate Week NYC, a new report from Climeworks takes a close look at the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) market across the United States and Canada. The report covers buyer behavior, supply dynamics, project developers, and the regulatory frameworks shaping the sector in both countries.

North America is framed in the report as the undisputed center of gravity for global CDR, leading the world in both removal volume and market value. According to Climeworks, buyer participation is broadening, quality standards are tightening, and organizations are increasingly focused on sourcing credits approved under rigorous integrity frameworks. The report also flags that future CDR supply may prove more constrained than most buyers currently assume.

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Who's Buying and What's Being Removed

On the demand side, the software and technology sector leads North American CDR procurement by volume. It's followed by banking and finance, entertainment, asset management companies, professional services, aviation, retail and e-commerce, and consumer products. That mix signals the market has moved well past its early-adopter phase.

The report notes that North American buyers are also placing growing importance on local co-benefits from CDR projects, a shift that could influence which project types attract the most demand going forward.

In terms of supply, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and reforestation lead all-time CDR volumes sold by North American project developers, each having crossed the 10 million tonne mark since 2019. Those two pathways are followed by other biomass-based approaches, direct air capture (DAC), biochar, enhanced weathering, marine CDR, mineralization, and alkalinity enhancement.

North American CDR buyers by industry sector. Image courtesy of Climeworks | Climeworks North America CDR Report

The Case for Acting Now

Marco Hartmann, Director of Carbon Partnerships and Portfolio Strategy at Climeworks, pointed to the findings as a signal that organizations need to start building carbon removal capabilities today rather than waiting for market conditions to improve. Climeworks notes in the report that to stay on track with modeled removal requirements, a significant share of volumes needed between 2026 and 2030 must be locked in through offtake agreements now to secure the project financing that makes those removals possible.

That supply constraint argument is backed by recent market activity. In Q1 2026, durable CDR contracting reached 2.3 million tonnes globally, roughly 560 percent of Q1 2025 volume, making it the largest opening quarter on record, according to data from CDR.fyi. Demand is accelerating, but supply pipelines take years to develop.

Policy Frameworks Supporting the Market

The Climeworks report identifies several regulatory mechanisms in both countries that are actively shaping CDR development.

In the United States, the 45Q tax credit remains the primary federal incentive, providing $180 per tonne for DAC projects that store captured carbon. California's Cap-and-Invest program adds further demand-side support at the state level.

In Canada, the policy environment has become notably more active. The Advance Carbon Removal Coalition (ACR), launched in March 2026 as an initiative of Carbon Removal Canada, aims to mobilize $100 million in CDR support by 2030. Founding members include the Government of Canada, BMO, RBC, Shopify, Vancity, ClimeFi, and NorthX.

Canada's CCUS Investment Tax Credit also provides up to 60 percent on eligible DAC capital costs and was expanded in April 2026 to cover enhanced oil recovery projects that meet permanent storage standards, broadening the pool of eligible projects.

Climeworks' North American Footprint Is Growing

Climeworks established its Canadian headquarters in Calgary in February 2026 and has been actively building out its North American presence through its portfolio services arm. In the first half of 2026, Climeworks Solutions signed 14 new CDR partnerships totaling approximately 450,000 tonnes of removal across biochar, BECCS, enhanced rock weathering, afforestation, reforestation and revegetation, and DAC. Among those deals were a 10-year CDR portfolio agreement with TD Bank focused on North American removals, and a first-ever partnership with Tapestry, marking Climeworks' entry into North American retail and consumer goods.

The full North American CDR trends report is available at the Climeworks website.

Climeworks DAC Innovation Center Inauguration, 2025. Image courtesy of Climeworks | Climeworks Media Library

About Climeworks

Climeworks was founded in 2009 by Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. The company runs the world's first two commercial direct air capture plants in Iceland and provides tailored CDR portfolio services through its Climeworks Solutions arm. Launched in 2024, Climeworks Solutions now serves more than 200 organizations globally, including companies from the Forbes Global 2000. The company achieved a 100 percent delivery rate across all portfolios in 2025.

Source: Climeworks, "Carbon Removal Trends in Canada and the United States," September 2026