Dublin April 2025

Governments Must Act Now to Scale Carbon Management for a Net-Zero Future

To achieve #NetZero emissions, carbon management must be treated as essential infrastructure, similar to waste management or energy systems. As the sector stands at a crossroads, urgent policy action is needed to scale technologies, establish clear standards, and create a global market for carbon removal. At Carbon Collect, we’re committed to playing a key role in shaping this critical market by delivering scalable, cost-effective, and verifiable CO₂ removal solutions.

Achieving NetZero emissions is a technological endeavour that necessitates the development of robust institutional frameworks. To meet our climate objectives, carbon management must be recognized and treated as essential infrastructure, comparable to waste management, water supply, and energy systems.

Lessons from Waste Management

The Waste Management industry only matured once governments took decisive action, including:

  • Waste accounting became mandatory
  • Landfill and recycling infrastructure received public investment
  • Polluters were required to pay for disposal

These steps transformed a patchwork of local efforts into a global market worth over $1.2 trillion annually, employing nearly 7 million people and contributing approximately 0.5% to global GDP.

Carbon Management at a Crossroads

We are now at a similar juncture with carbon management. To date, the carbon management sector has largely operated on a voluntary or pilot basis. However, its potential is substantial. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 will require annual clean energy investments to triple by 2030 to around $4 trillion, much of which will include carbon capture, management, reuse, and storage technologies.

The IPCC has confirmed that carbon removal is essential to limiting warming, with approximately 6 billion tonnes of CO₂ needing to be removed annually by 2050. Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, has called the expansion of carbon markets “the greatest commercial opportunity of our time,” and has said, “This needs to be a $50-100 billion per annum market.”

A Market Shaped by Action and Integrity

We now have the core technologies to act. Those who can deploy at scale and materially reduce the cost of CO₂ removal will shape this market. There is no time for fictitious claims or inflated expectations. The integrity of this sector depends on demonstrable performance and verifiable outcomes.

The Role of Governments

Governments must take the lead by:

  • Mandating carbon accounting
  • Setting a reference price for atmospheric CO₂ removal
  • Tendering for certified carbon management services
  • Creating registries for verified removal and reuse
  • Allowing polluters to contract removal directly (verified to the same standard)

A Critical Infrastructure for the Future

Carbon management must evolve rapidly from a policy experiment to a key part of the critical infrastructure of a livable future. At Carbon Collect, we are preparing to play a meaningful role in this emerging market, focused on scalable systems and cost-effective, verifiable CO₂ removal.