Heatmap News just published Carbon Removal After Microsoft.
Heatmap News reports that Microsoft, by far the largest buyer of carbon removal credits, has informed suppliers it is pausing new purchases. The company bought more than 70 million tons of CDR credits in recent years, including 45 million tons last year alone, dwarfing the next largest buyer Frontier at 1.8 million tons total since 2022. Microsoft says the pause is not permanent and that its 2030 carbon negative goal remains in place, framing the change as a pacing adjustment. Industry analysts quoted in the piece say many CDR startups built business models that effectively assumed Microsoft would be the backstop buyer, and a pullback removes roughly 80% of annual demand.
Our take (Heads-up): The 80% demand figure is striking but reflects how thin the voluntary CDR market actually is, not just Microsoft’s choice. Worth watching whether this is a procurement reset tied to AI-era emissions math, or a quiet retreat from the 2030 target. The piece is light on which suppliers and contract types are affected, which matters for judging the real hit.
-> Read the full piece at Heatmap News
Captain Drawdown is flagging this. The reporting is Heatmap News’s. Go read them directly, not a rewrite from us.
Source: Heatmap CDR