Here’s a stat that should bother anyone who thinks about CDR markets: Asia-Pacific accounts for roughly 50% of global CO₂ emissions and over 60% of the world’s population, yet it barely registers as a player in carbon removal markets.
The Carbon Business Council and Emerald Climate just launched APACdr — a Singapore-anchored working group designed to change that.
What Is APACdr?
It’s a coalition bringing together policymakers, financial institutions, corporate buyers, project developers, and civil society leaders to build the CDR infrastructure that Asia-Pacific currently lacks. The inaugural session in January 2026 drew 26 organizations spanning financial institutions, multinational corporations, carbon project developers, rating agencies, and non-profits.
The priorities for 2026 are concrete:
- Portfolio-based procurement models and blended pricing for CDR credits
- Demand aggregation mechanisms to give project developers bankable offtake signals
- Integration with global carbon markets
- Regional stakeholder education to build understanding of CDR
An APACdr Summit is planned during Ecosperity Week (May 18–21, 2026).
Why This Matters
CDR to date has been overwhelmingly a North American and European story — in terms of technology development, policy frameworks, and corporate demand. But the geography of emissions doesn’t care about where the buyers are. Asia-Pacific has enormous CDR potential: tropical weathering rates for ERW, biomass abundance for biochar, geological storage sites, and growing corporate sustainability commitments.
What it’s lacked is the institutional plumbing — demand signals, regulatory clarity, procurement infrastructure — that turns potential into projects. APACdr is a first step toward building that plumbing.
Source: Carbon Herald