By Sea, Land, & Air - Removing Carbon to Prosper

This demand-catalysing ice-breaker will offer a unique opportunity for CDR project suppliers and buyers to connect more efficiently ahead of the two day summit. Each buyer-supplier pairing will have 3 minutes to introduce themselves before a bell rings, when they will move to the next table.

- Past: Since the first Carbon Unbound in 2023, what lessons has the industry learnt over the past 3 years?

- Present: What technical, financial and regulatory challenges does the CDR industry still face?

- Present: What lessons can start-ups and project developers learn from failures and past projects?

- Future: Where is the industry going, and how are initiatives like CDR30 shaping opportunities for carbon removal solutions?

- Who are today's investors in carbon removal, and how are they segmented?

- Where are currently the biggest financing gaps, and what co-investment structures or blended financing models are most effective at different development stages?

- How do investors compare nature-based versus engineered carbon removal, and what factors drive their preferences?

- In what ways might emerging hubs collaborate to create integrated North American CDR innovation networks that leverage regional advantages?

- How can California’s carbon market and the DoE’s funding criteria be leveraged to generate consistent, long-term demand signals that attract institutional investors while ensuring permanence and high integrity?

Rev up your engines! Investors will be positioned in the breakout room, ready to meet start-ups. Start-ups have 3 minutes to pitch before a bell rings, and move to the next investor’s table.

- How can CDR initiatives empower Indigenous communities, and how is self-determination realized in practice?

- What is the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC)? Do project developers and buyers understand its importance and significance?

- What is the most important next step to cultivating a conversation on Indigenous participation and ownership of CDR projects

- How can successful Indigenous carbon initiatives be scaled across North America while protecting traditional knowledge and preserving community governance?

Organisations invite attendees to participate in intimate discussions around key development challenges. The session will culminate in the sharing of new ideas between the delegations.

- How are increasingly ambitious state and provincial emissions reduction targets creating new pressures and opportunities for carbon removal?

- In what ways can regional market linkages and initiatives support cross-border carbon removal projects, and what benefits and challenges arise from such collaborations?

- What impact does California’s six-bill package have on scaling carbon removal, and how could it serve as a model for other regions?

- How are provinces like British Columbia and Alberta, positioning themselves to support carbon removal? What role can provincial policy play alongside federal frameworks in 2026?

- Which past and upcoming policies ensure carbon removal is both effective and equitable?

The future of CDR depends on scaling both demand and supply, attracting new buyers, encouraging deeper investments from existing ones, and supporting the growth of projects that can deliver durable tonnes at scale. In this session, CDR.fyi will provide a snapshot of the tonnes sold in 2025, along with key highlights and trends shaping the market’s evolution in the year to come.

In these interactive themed sessions, which will run simultaneously, the chair will introduce the speakers, kick off with a few key questions, and then turn to the audience. The agenda points are examples to set the theme and keep the conversation flowing.

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Direct Air Capture: From Pilots to Hubs in the North West

- The (Pacific) North West leads in DAC. What are the region’s key advantages and challenges? How far along is the sector in its consolidation phase?

- Can government funding, tax credits, and offtake agreements narrow the cost gap fast enough to move projects to large-scale operations?

- What is the current investor landscape for DAC? What are the key drivers and what do we expect in the years to come?

- How will the high energy, water, and material demands of DAC impact its feasibility and expansion in the years to come?

- How should community engagement and recognition of Indigenous sovereignty influence DAC project siting and design in the region?

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Biomass Pathways for Wildfire Mitigation and Forest Restoration

- How can biomass removal be scaled safely to reduce wildfire risk while maximizing carbon benefits?

- Which technologies show the greatest potential for converting wildfire-prone biomass into carbon removal solutions and storing it effectively?

- Are there lessons from cross-border (U.S./Canada) collaboration, such as the Reciprocal Forest Fire Fighting Arrangement, that can help accelerate implementation?

- Which policies or incentive programs have been most effective in enabling sustainable biomass management?

- How can local communities and Indigenous nations benefit from biomass-based wildfire mitigation projects?

In these interactive themed sessions, which will run simultaneously, the chair will introduce the speakers, kick off with a few key questions, and then turn to the audience. The agenda points are examples to set the theme and keep the conversation flowing.

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From Tailings to Tonnes: Mining for Carbon Removal

- What drives mining companies to partner with CDR developers, and what excites buyers about these collaborations?

- How do developers communicate their value-add, and what risks or barriers do both sides face in these partnerships?

- What is the potential scale of CDR deployment in connection with legacy industries, and how is commercialization evolving in the current political landscape?

- How can policy unlock more deployments and partnerships while ensuring appropriate guardrails for social, environmental, and community impacts?

- How do we engage (indigenous) communities, and ecosystem partners and ensure projects support communities and foster positive outcomes?

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Blue Frontiers: Leveraging Pacific Innovation for Global Impact

- What core competencies must investors, buyers, and developers integrate to responsibly scale blue carbon, ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), and other mCDR pathways while protecting ecosystems and engaging communities equitably?

- What MRV frameworks are needed to track carbon removal reliably across open-ocean systems?

- How do Nature-based coastal restoration and engineered mCDR solutions compare in their advantages and limitations, particularly regarding their ecological impacts and the need for meaningful community engagement?

- Which de-risking strategies have been most critical for advancing marine CDR technologies from pilots to commercial viability?

- Why has engineered mCDR surged in interest and funding over the past 2–3 years??

10-minute case setting, 30-minute breakout discussion, and 20-minute feedback sharing with the audience.

Scaling the supply of carbon removal remains one of the most critical challenges for achieving meaningful climate impact. This interactive session will explore the pathways, strategies, and innovations needed to expand CDR supply at commercial scale. Drawing on first-hand experiences, research, and expert insights, participants will collaborate in breakout discussions to identify key barriers, share lessons learned, and co-develop solutions for scaling supply efficiently and responsibly.

- What makes Canada the “Ideal Global Hub” to scale carbon removal?

- In what ways are Canada’s tech-agnostic innovation hubs accelerating the path to commercial viability?

- Are there reasons why Canada is a safer bet for carbon removal investment?

- To what extent is Canada’s CDR legal framework becoming a model for the world, and a strategic advantage for its developers?

- How, and why, are strategies changing towards nature-based and engineered removals, and what trade-offs are influencing those decisions?

- How is public procurement moving in Canada and how are regional governments shaping demand, attracting new corporate buyers, and surfacing unique risks or concerns?

- With demand for certain credits outpacing supply, such as biochar, how are buyers adapting, and what lessons apply across removal pathways?

- What role can philanthropic initiatives and innovative business models (e.g., pre-purchase, offtake, subscriptions) play in scaling credible removals? What has been the impact of the emerging “Buyers Clubs”?

- What are alternatives to credit-based systems (such as jurisdiction-level monitoring) for tracking and incentivizing carbon removal?

- In the year to come, what are the most promising opportunities for scaling nature-based carbon removal practices, spanning forests, wetlands, and agriculture, across the North American West Coast?

- How can we level the playing field so farmers of all sizes can participate in agricultural carbon markets, supported by fair payment mechanisms?

- What cross-border collaborations between governments, farmers, Indigenous communities, and private sector actors, are most critical to accelerating adoption in the next few years?

- How can standards, long-term purchase agreements, and innovative financing transform agricultural carbon removal into a mainstream, financially attractive solution?

- How do you assess market maturity of projects  in this region, and what developments would give greater confidence to scale investment?

- What types of financial products (such as guarantees, derivatives, credit enhancements etc.) are most critical to reduce investment risk?

- What types of financing models best support the growth of removal projects while managing uncertainty?

- From an insurance standpoint, what are the key risks associated with CDR, and how could insurance products develop to provide broader, more cost-effective coverage?

- From a finance perspective, what factors currently make investing in this space most challenging, and what would need to shift to confidently increase investments?

Organisations invite attendees to participate in intimate discussions around key development challenges. The session will culminate in the sharing of new ideas between the delegations.

In these interactive themed sessions, which will run simultaneously, the chair will introduce the speakers, kick off with a few key questions, and then turn to the audience. The agenda points are examples to set the theme and keep the conversation flowing.

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Asia’s CDR Pioneers: Japan and Singapore Leading the Way

- How do Japan and Singapore integrate carbon removal into their national net-zero pathways? How important is international trading for meeting their climate goals?

- How do domestic constraints (land, energy, geology) affect the balance between deploying locally vs importing credits?

- What are technology and innovation developments in each country, and are there opportunities for joint R&D or even technology sharing with North America?

- How are Japan and Singapore engaging with carbon removal projects in North America and Europe? 

- What do these Asian investors and buyers look for when sourcing credits abroad?

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Piping the Way to Carbon Storage

- What makes the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada unique for CO₂ storage? 

- What are the key pathways to developing pipelines and hub infrastructure across a diverse and often challenging regional landscape? What about the use of rights-of-way (ROWs)?

- Where are the biggest gaps in regulation and liability, and how can cross-border coordination help move projects forward faster?

- What is the current state of public perception? How can we build trust, ensure equitable benefits, and respect Indigenous rights while advancing deployment?

- How are market signals and finance influencing the pace and scale of infrastructure development?

- In what ways is AI currently being applied to CDR, including MMRV, modeling, and project optimization?

- What are the most exciting ways AI could accelerate scaling of carbon removal technologies and markets over the next five years? What major challenge in AI could carbon removal help solve?

- How can AI support both engineered solutions (like DAC) and nature-based pathways (like soil carbon or forestry)?

- What makes the combination of carbon removal and AI appealing to buyers in today’s market?

- How can CORSIA and the Poseidon Principles be harmonised to create a unified carbon removal incentive framework for global air and sea routes?

- What are the main hurdles (technical, regulatory, or financial) that are slowing wider adoption of carbon removal in your sector?

- How do SAF and low-carbon marine fuels complement carbon removal strategies in achieving net-zero goals?

- Where do you see the biggest opportunities and challenges for expanding carbon removal in your sector over the next 5–10 years?

- How are changing political landscapes in North America reshaping carbon market dynamics, and what opportunities do they create for resilient carbon removal markets?

- Which standards and registries are most influential in advancing carbon removal credits, and how are Pacific Northwest states and provinces shaping demand through regulation?

- What role will CBAM and Article 6.4 play in North American competitiveness, and how might they integrate with existing West Coast and Canadian cap-and-trade systems?

- How are corporate buyers and investors responding to carbon removal opportunities in North America, and what barriers must be overcome to scale supply?

- How are voluntary carbon markets evolving to complement compliance systems, and what does this convergence mean for scaling high-integrity carbon removal?