Swiss Re, Climeworks Sign World’s 1st & Largest 10-Year Carbon Removal Purchase Agreement

Business News/Analysis, Carbon Capture/Storage/Use, Carbon Capture/Storage/Use, Funding/Financing/Investing, Iceland, Infrastructure, R & D Focus, Sustainability, Switzerland

September 6, 2021

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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … Swiss Re and Climeworks, a leading specialist in carbon dioxide air capture technology, are partnering to combat climate change. The partners signed the world’s first long-term purchase agreement for direct air capture and storage of carbon dioxide, worth USD $10 million over ten years.

For Swiss Re, the collaboration marks a milestone towards its goal of reaching net-zero emissions in its own operations by 2030. The partnership is also a sign of Swiss Re’s support for the carbon removal industry and gives the Group early access to the new carbon removal risk pools and asset classes.

Both the length of the term of ten years and the total value of USD $10 million are so far unmatched in the voluntary market for this type of high-quality carbon removal, sending an important demand signal to developers, investors and other buyers. The companies also agreed to collaborate on developing risk management knowledge and risk transfer solutions, as well as to explore future investment and project finance opportunities.

The Climeworks tech

Climeworks says their “carbon dioxide removal via direct air capture technology is the only solution that can reduce atmospheric concentration of CO₂ in a scalable manner by capturing CO₂ from the air today and storing it permanently underground.”

The technological carbon removal solution offered by Climeworks in Iceland filters carbon dioxide from ambient air using geothermal energy. The captured CO2 is then sent for permanent storage in nearby rock layers. It is dissolved in water and pumped deep underground, where it reacts naturally with the surrounding basalt rock to form stable carbonate minerals – the CO2 literally turns into stone. This is considered the safest, most durable form of all carbon removal solutions that are commercially available today, according to Climeworks.

This September, Climeworks is going to launch its new large-scale direct air capture and storage plant “Orca” in Iceland, bringing large-scale direct air capture technology to reality.

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The insurance sector is uniquely positioned to offer support on all three fronts: through long-term purchase agreements, providing insurance capacity for evolving risk pools, and investments in new asset classes, as described in the recent Swiss Re Institute report on the insurance rationale for carbon removal solutions.

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The partnership with Swiss Re is of integral importance to Climeworks: the re/insurance industry is at the forefront of assessing complex risk structures including those of climate change. READ MORE

Climeworks and leading risk knowledge company Swiss Re sign the world’s first and largest 10-year purchase agreement for direct air capture and storage of carbon dioxide (Climeworks)

Swiss Re and Climeworks launch partnership by signing world’s first ten-year carbon removal purchase agreement (Swiss RE)

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