The Global Business Summit Accelerating Gigaton-Scale CDR

08:55 - Opening Remarks from Unbound Summits

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09:00 - Carbon Removal Buyers, Listen Up!

Format: Keynote

• How can companies navigate the market and vet projects?

Confirmed Speaker:

Brian Marrs - Senior Director of Energy & Carbon, Microsoft

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09:15 - The United States of CDR: Making Removals a Core Component of Climate Strategy

Format: Panel

• Is the Inflation Reduction Act enough to get us to gigaton scale?
• What are the obstacles in scaling carbon removals today, and what challenges do we see on the horizon?
• What States are leading the way, and what are the bottlenecks for the ones trailing behind?
• What is the status of public procurement pilots? Do they encourage private-sector investment? Do they foster an environment conducive to the rapid implementation of CDR technologies?
• How have we seen policies influence the job market and impact disadvantaged communities? What is required to meet the goals of the Justice40 Initiative through a CDR lens?

Session Chair:

Nikki Batchelor - Executive Director, XPRIZE Carbon Removal

Confirmed Speakers:
Angela Anderson - Director Industrial Innovation and Carbon Removal, World Resources Institute
Noah Deich - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Carbon Management, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Tracy Johns - Head of Carbon Removal Program, Meta

Taylor Wright - Executive Director, Head of Strategy & Carbon Management, JP Morgan Chase & Co

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10:00 - The Growing Prominence of BECCS

Format: Keynote

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‍Confirmed Speaker:

Angela Hepworth - Commercial Director, Drax

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10:15 - Networking Coffee Break

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10:45 - Direct Air Capture: The Goose that Lays the Golden Egg?

Format: Panel

• With close to 20 DAC plants in operation, what have been the experiences so far? How much have we removed in 2023, and what are the scaling scenarios for direct air capture before 2030?
• Where are the opportunities to reduce costs without risking later deployment?
• How much finance is needed to achieve a $100 per tonne price?
• What are some of the success stories where local communities have benefited from DAC development?

Session Chair:

Jason Hochman - Co-Founder & Executive Director, The DAC Coalition

Confirmed Speakers:

Giana Amador - Executive Director, Carbon Removal Alliance

Nicholas Eisenberger - Co-Founder, Circular Carbon Network

Josh Santos - CEO, Noya

Rob van Straten - CEO, Skytree

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11:30 - Carbon Registry of the Future

Format: Keynote

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• CDR needs to grow faster, but this is blocked today by a lack of trust.
• A functioning carbon market requires a new type of registry built upon transparency—one that can deliver confidence for buyers, suppliers, and the public.
• Registries of the future must be grounded in science to ensure lasting, positive climate impact.
• Buyers need to know registries are working on their behalf to unlock offtakes.
• Only with such registries can all players in the ecosystem work together to meet these challenges, rebuild trust in carbon markets, and help carbon removal scale.

Confirmed Speaker:

Eamon Jubbawy - CEO, Isometric

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11:40 - Campfire Sessions

Format: Team Collaboration

• Organisations invite attendees to an intimate discussion around critical challenges relating to CDR development. The session will culminate in the sharing of new ideas with delegates.

1. DAC + CCS = a Match Made in Heaven

‍Rob van Straten - CEO, Skytree

Elena Nikonova - Strategy Director, Skytree

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2. Startup Scaling Secrets: Leveraging Tech and Engineering for Growth to Net-Zero

Lorraine Chambon - Incubation Leader, Technip Energies

Pascal Streit - Head of Decarbonisation Technology, Technip Energies

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3. Cost Crushing: Leading Calcium-Based DAC to Scale

‍Mario Guagnelli - VP Product Development of Calcite, 8 Rivers

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4. Value of Agricultural Carbon Credits, a More Permanent Solution

‍Samuel Fournier - CEO, ChrysaLabs

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5. Developing new CDR Technologies: from Concept to Deployment

Matthew Newman - Head of Sustainable Technologies, TTP

Peter Jackson - CDR Technology Lead, TTP

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6. Intentionally Developing CDR Industry Architecture: the Role of Trade Associations

Chris Sherwood - Secretary-General, Negative Emissions Platform

Toby Bryce - Policy Advisor, Carbon Business Council

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7. What was I Made for? CDR use Cases and Implications for MRV Design

Anu Khan - Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Carbon180

Matt Kirley - Manager RMI, Climate-Aligned Industries, Carbon Dioxide Removal, RMI

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8. What makes CDR Insurable? Understanding Risk to Scale Finance

James Kench - Head of Insurance, Kita

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9. Smart Corporate Climate Strategy Must Include the Ocean

Jill Storey - Ocean CO2 Removal Advisor, World Ocean Council

Anish Patel - Managing Partner & COO, Yamaha Motor Ventures

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10. The Hidden Giant in CDR: Opportunities to Galvanise Cities

Christiaan Gevers Deynoot - Senior Manager Carbon Removal Platforms, South Pole

Nikki Batchelor - Executive Director, XPRIZE Carbon Removal

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11. Startup Solution Lab

Tito Jankowski - Co-Founder & CEO, AirMiners

Jason Grillo - Director of Partnerships & Operations, AirMiners

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12. Getting Ready to Transact: What is Necessary to Pitch and Close a CDR Deal

Ariel Hayward - Carbon Removal Senior Program Manager, Microsoft

Rafael Broze - Carbon Removal Senior Program Manager, Microsoft

12:30 - Networking Lunch Break

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13:30 - Poseidon’s World: Deep Dive into Ocean-Based CDR

Format: Panel

• What are the most recent ocean-based developments contributing to removal at a multi-gigaton scale? How quickly are we able to deploy them? 
• What legitimate uncertainties about ecological and social impacts are most prominent? 
• Are the existing frameworks guiding investors and catalysing public and private investment in blue carbon understood? 
• Where geographically are most of the scientific studies taking place? What political and legal barriers stand in the way of advancing ocean CDR?

Session Chair:

Brad Ack - CEO, Ocean Visions

Confirmed Speakers:

Ryan Orbuch - Partner, Lowercarbon Capital

Marty Odlin - Founder & CEO, Running Tide

Gaurav N. Sant - Pritzker Professor of Sustainability, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
Ori Shaashua -  Co-Founder & Chief Impact Officer, Gigablue

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14:15 - Investment Report: The State of the Industry

Format: Presentation

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Confirmed Speaker:

Ongeleigh Underwood - Director, Circular Carbon Network

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14:30 - Nature: In Demand and on the Rise, Globally

Format: Fireside chat

• Last year, BiCRS -particularly Biochar - accounted for over 90% of carbon credits. Will it keep its 'significant mitigation' potential or will duration raise questions? How can we increase the private capital representation? 
• Do we risk reducing natural ecosystems to one metric – carbon? What effective strategies are there for putting a price tag on nature? 
• The success factor of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) removal projects hinges on accurate monitoring and measurement mechanisms. What has been the progress?
• Is there an opportunity to double down on NbS in the Global South, especially Latin America? What has been the outcome when doing so?
• NbS often bring about tangible co-benefits, including social benefits and business opportunities. What have been the success stories in Latin America, particularly in rural and underserved areas?

Confirmed Moderator:

James Dinneen, Environmental Reporter, New Scientist

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Confirmed Speakers:

Shannon Smith - CCO, Chestnut Carbon

Patrick Atanasije Pineda - Founder & Managing Director, The Next 150

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15:00 - Networking Coffee Break

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15:30 - The Final Steps of the CDR Cycle: Storage

Format: Fireside Chat

• Why is captured CO2 only sometimes stored at the project source? What are the factors determining where we store at geologic or utilisation sites? 
• How have storage solutions progressed over the last year? What partnerships hold the key to long-term, cost-effective storage? 
• Where are the opportunities to repurpose existing infrastructure instead of building new ‘stuff’?
• What is the full potential of carbon storage? Is it enough to reach the world’s removal target?

Session Chair:

Sanjeev Menon - Graduate Research Assistant Kelly Lab, Columbia Engineering

Confirmed Speakers:

Claire Nelson - Co-Founder & CTO, Cella

Julia Reichelstein - Co-Founder & CEO, Vaulted Deep

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16:00 - Tech Showcase: Mission Innovation

Format: Start-Up Pitching

• Spotlighting the next generation of CDR pioneers.

Start-up Presenter: 

Iddo Tsur - Co-Founder & COO, CarbonBlue

Hannah Murnen - CTO, Graphyte

Malte Feucht - Founder & CEO, Carbon Atlantis

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Showcase Judge:

Chante Harris - Founder & Managing Partner, Eunoia Group

Marley Rafson - Co-CEO & Co-Founder, Alcove

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16:30 - Aviation and CDR: Ready for Take-Off?

Format: Fireside Chat

• Pre-purchased, verified and durable carbon removal credits between airlines and aerospace manufacturers are rising. What do the notable successes have in common? 
• Is CORSIA leading to offsetting beyond borders? Has the first phase been on track to limit the growth of net aviation CO2 emissions to 2020 levels?
• Developments in fossil-derived jet fuel and new technologies significantly decarbonise long-haul aviation and the pathway to Net-Zero 2050. What policy frameworks need to be put in place to incentivise producers? 
• What are the opportunities to reuse removed carbon in sustainable fuel?

Session Chair:

Edward Sanders - COO, Equatic

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Confirmed Speakers:

Anna Stukas - Vice President Business Development, 1PointFive

Thomas Goetz - Manager for Climate Change Programs, Air Canada

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17:00 - MRV Frameworks: Are They the GGR ‘Market Shaper’?

Format: Panel

• Is ‘perfect’ the enemy of good? Should we allow lower MRV certainty in exchange for lower cost and complexity? 
• Using the VCM to scale carbon removal presents both opportunities and challenges. How solid and accepted are the current standards and methodologies for CDR projects?
• Thinking of the plurality of standards and protocols, how do we get the protocols to stand up to scrutiny? What are we reporting against?
• How will a federal MRV system, or a publicly developed MRV system, interact with those available today, mainly used in the voluntary market? 
• What examples are there of models for harder-to-measure, more open-ended systems?

Session Chair:

Matt Kirley - Manager RMI, Climate-Aligned Industries, Carbon Dioxide Removal, RMI

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Confirmed Speakers:

Jamie Burrows - Head of CCUS Venture, DNV

Anu Khan - Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Carbon180

David LaGreca - Managing Director Voluntary Carbon Markets, EcoEngineers

Akifumi (Chris) Takigawa - Manager CDR, Mitsubishi Corporation

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17:45 - End of Day

08:10 - Breakfast Briefing: Recommendations to Increase Natural Ecosystem Restoration Projects and Impacts

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Buyers of carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market (VCM) are increasingly seeking high-quality projects that benefit biodiversity and ecological restoration beyond climate change mitigation.

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While stand-out projects that advance both do exist, relatively few projects today meet this bar. Consequently, buyers can find it difficult to identify and evaluate projects that promote multifaceted outcomes. In this session, panellists will explore: 

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• The types of nature-based projects best suited to deliver benefits across climate and nature.
• The barriers to ecosystem restoration in the VCM and strategies for how buyers can help overcome them.

Session Chair:
Sanna O'Connor-Morberg - Senior Science and Strategy Manager, Carbon Direct

Confirmed Speakers:

Rahul Barua - Director of Climate Finance Innovation, Salesforce

Sarah Federman - Director of Landscape Decarbonization, Carbon Direct

Tracy Johns - Head of Carbon Removal Program, Meta

Alex Moore - PhD Assistant Professor, Dept. of Forest & Conservation Sciences and Dept. of Botany, The University of British Columbia

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08:55 - Scaling Successfully from Lab to Field

Format: Fireside Chat

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Session Chair:

Rafael Broze - Senior Program Manager Carbon Removal, Microsoft

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Confirmed Speaker:

Douglas Chan - COO, Climeworks

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09:30 - CDR.fyi: Updates on the Market and New Analysis

Format: Present

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Confirmed Speaker:

Alexander Rink - Co-Founder, CDR.fyi

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09:45 - A Buyers’ World Part One: What is Holding Them Back?

Format: Panel

• How does the industry attract more buyers? What is preventing corporations, including philanthropic ones, from purchasing removal credits?
• What are the priorities of buyers? How does this influence their buying pattern?
• How can buyers get comfortable with new suppliers that require funding?
• What decision-making goes into purchasing CDR credits, and who is ultimately responsible for signing off spending?
• How can we ensure the integrity of CDR credits to instil confidence in buyers, encouraging them to incorporate CDR credits into their emission compensation portfolios?  
• How impactful have the public and private sectors been in fostering consensus around carbon removals as an essential step towards Net-Zero?

Session Chair:

Ben Rubin - Executive Director, Carbon Business Council

Confirmed Speakers:
Hannah Bebbington - Head of Strategy, Frontier

Rory Jacobson - Acting Division Director for Carbon Dioxide Removal, U.S. Department of Energy

Tim Sperry - Founder & CEO, Carbon Limit

Antti Vihavainen - CEO, Puro.earth

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10:30 - A Buyers’ World Part Two: Ask Me Anything

Format: Interactive Q&A

• We invite the audience to ask candid questions to the experienced carbon removal buyers panel. Receive meaningful insights into selling and purchasing carbon removals.

Session Chair:

Ben Rubin - Executive Director, Carbon Business Council

Confirmed Speakers:
Hannah Bebbington - Head of Strategy, Frontier

Rory Jacobson - Acting Division Director for Carbon Dioxide Removal, U.S. Department of Energy

Taylor Wright - Executive Director, Head of Strategy & Carbon Management, JPMorgan Chase & Co 

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11:00 - Networking Coffee Break

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11:30 - Towards Net-Zero Agriculture: Improving Yield, Revenue and Resiliency

Format: Panel

• What CDR solutions are helping us achieve carbon-negative agriculture?
• What tools allow farmers to track the results after deploying carbon removal solutions on the farm? 
• How engaged are landowners? What needs to be done to educate them on the possibilities of these solutions? 
• What are the main environmental and social co-benefits of ‘carbon farming’, and how are companies showcasing these? 
• ERW and biochar solutions offer a win-win: removing CO2, being readily deployable and providing nutrition. Which rock or coal type is most suitable for this application?

Session Chair:
Radhika Moolgavkar - Head of Supply & Methodology, Nori

Confirmed Speakers:
Caroline Braun - Team Lead Business Development & Carbon Removal, Landwärme

Dylan Lubbe - Commercial Director, Agoro Carbon Alliance

Jim Mann - Co-Founder & CEO, UNDO
Mary Yap - Co-Founder & CEO, Lithos Carbon

12:15 - Scientific Rigour and Quality in Carbon Credits

Format: Fireside Chat

• How do buyers define and assess quality when purchasing carbon removal credits?
• What are the minimum thresholds buyers expect for scientific rigour?

Confirmed speaker:

Joanna Klitzke - Procurement & Ecosystem Strategy Lead, Frontier

Lukas May - Head of Expansion & Policy, Isometric

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12:35 - Campfire Sessions

Format: Team Collaboration

• Organisations invite attendees to an intimate discussion around crucial challenges relating to CDR development. The session will culminate in the sharing of new ideas between the delegates.

1. DAC + CCS = a Match Made in Heaven

‍Rob van Straten - CEO, Skytree

Elena Nikonova - Strategy Director, Skytree

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2. Startup Scaling Secrets: Leveraging Tech and Engineering for Growth to Net-Zero

Lorraine Chambon - Incubation Leader, Technip Energies

Pascal Streit - Head of Decarbonisation Technology, Technip Energies

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3. Cost Crushing: Leading Calcium-Based DAC to Scale

‍Mario Guagnelli - VP Product Development of Calcite, 8 Rivers

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4. Value of Agricultural Carbon Credits, a More Permanent Solution

‍Samuel Fournier - CEO, ChrysaLabs

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5. Developing new CDR Technologies: from Concept to Deployment

Matthew Newman - Head of Sustainable Technologies, TTP

Peter Jackson - CDR Technology Lead, TTP

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6. Intentionally Developing CDR Industry Architecture: the Role of Trade Associations

Chris Sherwood - Secretary-General, Negative Emissions Platform

Dana Jacobs - Chief of Staff, Carbon Removal Alliance

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7. What was I Made for? CDR use Cases and Implications for MRV Design

Matt Kirley - Manager RMI, Climate-Aligned Industries, Carbon Dioxide Removal, RMI

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8. What makes CDR Insurable? Understanding Risk to Scale Finance

James Kench - Head of Insurance, Kita

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9. Smart Corporate Climate Strategy Must Include the Ocean

Jill Storey - Ocean CO2 Removal Advisor, World Ocean Council

Toby Bryce - Policy Advisor, Carbon Business Council

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10. The Hidden Giant in CDR: Opportunities to Galvanise Cities

Christiaan Gevers Deynoot - Senior Manager Carbon Removal Platforms, South Pole

Nikki Batchelor - Executive Director, XPRIZE Carbon Removal

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11. Startup Solution Lab

Tito Jankowski - Co-Founder & CEO, AirMiners

Jason Grillo - Director of Partnerships & Operations, AirMiners

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12. Getting Ready to Transact: What is Necessary to Pitch and Close a CDR Deal

Ariel Hayward - Carbon Removal Senior Program Manager, Microsoft

Rafael Broze - Carbon Removal Senior Program Manager, Microsoft

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13:15 - Networking Lunch Break

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14:15 - International Compliance Markets: Scaling Up CDR

Format: Fireside Chat

• What nations are currently implementing different policies to incentivise carbon removal? What are the international frameworks to support connecting supply and demand markets globally?
• How can governments create a safe space for innovation whilst ensuring their deployment is safe and fair? 
• What are the benefits of developed compliance markets compared to voluntary markets?
• Which are the most developed compliance markets? What markets do we expect to mature soon?
  

Session Chair:

Noah Deich - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Carbon Management, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

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Confirmed Speakers:
Kerry Constabile - Vice Chair, Energy Technical Advisory Committee & Senior Climate Expert, Gold Standard
Annalise Downey - Senior Manager, Technical Climate Consulting, Sylvera

Lewis Rodger - Carbon Markets Development Lead, Drax

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14:45 - Investor Roundtable: Funding the Removal Economy

Format: Panel

• Can we solve the chicken-and-egg problem, where finance is scarce until projects are successful?
• Where do investors think the next billion-dollar breakthrough will come from?
• What must projects and businesses demonstrate to attract investors in this nascent market?
• How does a lack of buyers in the market impact valuations and deployable capital?

Session Chair:

Ongeleigh Underwood - Director, Circular Carbon Network

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Confirmed Speakers:

Jack Andreasen - Manager, Carbon Management, U.S. Policy & Advocacy, Breakthrough Energy

Amir Chireh Mehr - Senior Investment Director, Elemental Excelerator

Ryan Macpherson - Director, Climate Innovation & Investment, Autodesk

Susan Schofer - Partner, SOSV/HAX

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15:30 - Key Takeaways from Carbon Unbound East Coast

Format: Wrap-up Discussion

• What was discussed over the two days that will make an impact on CDR? 
• Where do leaders need to focus their time in order to make an oversized impact? 
  
• What will we be discussing at Carbon Unbound 2025?

Session Chair:

Candice Ammori - Founder, Climate Vine

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Confirmed Speakers:

Justin Freiberg - Managing Director, Carbon Containment Lab

Tito Jankowski - Co-Founder & CEO, AirMiners

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16:00 - End of Conference and Closing Network Drinks