A wave of new rules in 2026—including updates to the SBTi Corporate Net Zero Standard, an ISO removals accounting framework, CBAM implementation, the EU’s CRCF regulation, and a review of carbon removals in the EU ETS—signals a shift from voluntary claims toward a more regulated European carbon-removal market. Additional milestones such as CORSIA’s transition toward mandatory participation and Germany’s €156 million allocation for CDR further underscore Europe’s push to scale high-integrity removals while reducing greenwashing and carbon leakage. Full article >>

China continues to emphasize low-cost, biologic carbon-removal approaches such as afforestation and soil-turning, leaving geologic methods like direct air capture, enhanced rock weathering, and ocean alkalinity enhancement largely confined to research papers and small pilot projects. Despite vast geological storage potential and emerging university-led efforts, high costs, regulatory gaps, and technical uncertainties keep geologic CDR on the sidelines for now. Full article >>

A new study argues that planners should avoid betting on any single carbon-removal technology and instead build “option-rich” portfolios that can adapt as land availability, energy supply and technological performance evolve. Modeling thousands of plausible futures, the authors find that robust strategies rely on a mix of methods—from near-term forest and soil approaches to later-century DAC and ocean alkalinity—underscoring how climate uncertainty favors flexibility over precision. Full article >>