Nov 11, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Business Council on Climate Change Launches Initiative to Catalyze Corporate Carbon Removal Investments

The Business Council on Climate Change (BC3), a multi-sector partnership dedicated to incubating, scaling, and sharing world-leading solutions to address climate change, has launched a major new effort to catalyze carbon removal investments by the corporate sector.

Carbon removals--the removal or sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere through natural or engineered solutions--are an increasingly important strategy alongside emissions reductions for meeting global climate goals. Carbon removals can also deliver broader ecological benefits and bring socio-economic advantages to local communities, including those that are most impacted by climate change and ecosystem loss.

“We need bold and immediate action to meet the urgency of the climate crisis,” said BC3 Executive Director Maura McKnight. “Collaboration by the corporate sector in the growing carbon removals space can spur the innovation needed to bring it to scale and maximize its impact.”

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), in launching its new Net-Zero Corporate Standard last week, emphasized that companies will need to neutralize residual emissions through carbon removals to reach net zero. A number of corporate climate leaders, including several BC3 members, have already included it in their strategies, but the market is complex and immature, and many companies are just starting to explore it. In September, BC3 released a Quick Start Guide to Carbon Removals, in partnership with member companies Atlassian and Autodesk and subject experts Carbon180 and Anthesis, to help companies learn about removals and the market, and kick-start their investments.

BC3, which has a history of bringing members together to create innovative aggregate purchasing for solar energy and invest in soil carbon sequestration research, is also convening a carbon removals buyers forum. The forum brings together members, outside experts, and other companies interested in expanding their sustainability investments to foster collaborative learning, problem solving and action. Coordinated corporate investments and inclusion of carbon removals in companies’ sustainability strategies will send a strong “demand signal” from the corporate sector to help scale the removals market and strengthen emerging companies and technologies.

“​​BC3 members have the critical opportunity to launch the carbon removal industry with early investments that will bring down the cost for everyone, leading to a prosperous economy that removes more carbon than it emits,” said Peter Minor, Director of Science & Innovation at Carbon180. “Carbon180 looks forward to working with early leaders like BC3 member companies, and building the policy landscape needed to support them.”

“In contributing to this effort, Anthesis is delighted for the opportunity to support newcomers to the carbon removal space to quickly get up to speed so they can focus their time and energy on developing meaningful investment strategies,” said Emma Armstrong, Executive Director, Anthesis North America. “This is well aligned with Anthesis’ mission to help organizations to activate sustainable performance.”