To help speed and scale the growth and development of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies, JPMorgan Chase signed long-term agreements to purchase over $200 million in high quality, durable CDR.

These agreements, intended to remove and store 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO₂e) from the atmosphere, represent one of the largest carbon removal purchases announced to date. These will support scaling up carbon removal and are expected to enable the Firm to match every ton of its unabated direct operational emissions with durable carbon removal by 2030, further accelerating JPMorgan Chase’s operational sustainability efforts.

The market for carbon removal is expected to grow dramatically between now and 2050. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates cumulative removal needs of 100 to 1,000 gigatons (GtCO₂e) of carbon dioxide globally by 2100, with interim annual removal rates that approach 10 GtCO₂e by mid-century.

Emergent carbon markets can help speed the development and commercialization of high-integrity carbon reduction and removal solutions.

“These agreements reflect our ambition to support scale, innovation and evolution in these technologies. Alongside reducing emissions, the world needs significant investment in durable carbon removal solutions with gigaton-scale potential,” said Ashley Bacon, Chief Risk Officer, JPMorgan Chase.

“Financing promising technologies needed to help accelerate the low-carbon transition requires capital and expertise. We’re working to drive scalable development of carbon removal and storage as commercial solutions and aim to send a strong market signal,” said Daniel Pinto, President and Chief Operating Officer, JPMorgan Chase.

JPMorgan Chase announces:

• One of the largest ever purchases of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) services via direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) from Climeworks: The Firm signed a 9-year agreement with Climeworks to deliver 25,000 mtCO₂e of carbon removal services.

“JPMorgan Chase’s long-term agreement with Climeworks sets a compelling example for the immediate action and the portfolio approach that are needed to deploy CO₂  removal solutions. The finance industry has no doubt become a trailblazer in supporting the scale up of high-quality carbon removal solutions, today marks a new milestone in this field,” says Christoph Gebald, co-founder and co-CEO of Climeworks.

• Significant purchase of bio-oil CDR from Charm Industrial: The Firm agreed to purchase Charm CDR removing and storing approximately 28,585 mtCO₂e over 5 years and deliveries have already begun for JPMorgan Chase.

“We’re excited to partner with JPMC to remove thousands of tons of carbon while creating significant economic opportunities in communities with large scale agriculture and oil and gas expertise – right here in the U.S. JPMorgan Chase’s commitment to CDR is an important industry catalyst that will help us grow our carbon removal operations, and we’re proud to be one of their early partners,” said Peter Reinhardt, co-founder and CEO of Charm Industrial.

• Long-term agreement with CO280 Solutions, Inc., one of the largest carbon removal agreements ever announced: The Firm signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MOU) with CO280 Solutions, Inc., reflecting the Firm’s intent to purchase up to 30,000 mtCO₂e of CDR per year for delivery over up to 15 years, for an expected total removal of as much as 450,000 mtCO₂e.

“CO280 was created to deliver what the carbon market wants: durable, high-quality, affordable CDR at large scale…today. JPMorgan Chase’s ambitious strategy to support high-quality carbon removal is a catalyst for growth and helps accelerate scale across these technologies. We’re thrilled to be selected as a CDR partner along with Climeworks and Charm,” said Jonathan Rhone, CEO of CO280 Solutions.

• $75 million commitment to Frontier to help accelerate CDR technologies by guaranteeing demand: The Firm recently joined Frontier, an advance market commitment to accelerate carbon removal. JPMorgan Chase committed to purchase $50M of durable, high-quality CDR credits for its own operational emissions and will provide clients with access to as much as $25M of credits to help them meet their climate targets.

See related article: Faheen Allibhoy, JP Morgan Development Finance Institution

“Institutional capital is a crucial ingredient in getting carbon removal to gigaton scale. JPMorgan Chase brings deep financial expertise that can meaningfully accelerate the field. We’re thrilled that they’ve joined Frontier,” said Nan Ransohoff, Head of Frontier.

“These agreements will meaningfully contribute to moving carbon removal forward as a solution available to a wider range of buyers, including our clients,” said Heather Zichal, Global Head of Sustainability, JPMorgan Chase.

“Alongside facilitating sustainable finance and supporting clients in the energy transition, within our operations, we’re first reducing emissions to minimize our environmental impact and then addressing what we can’t yet abate. Our goal is to remove and durably store one ton of CO₂ for every ton of unabated direct operational emissions by 2030. Working with partners like Charm, Climeworks, CO280 and Frontier supports these objectives and helps bring innovative solutions to market at scale,” said Brian DiMarino, Head of Operational Sustainability, JPMorgan Chase.

The Firm will continue to utilize nature-based carbon removal solutions as part of its efforts to neutralize Scope 3 operational emissions, such as from employee business travel, and believes nature-based carbon removal credits continue to have an important role to play, with consideration of the limited durability of these solutions.

Carbon markets must achieve greater credibility and functionality

Alongside emissions reductions, the voluntary carbon market is an important tool for enabling the low-carbon transition to occur at a pace and scale commensurate with the climate challenge.

Today the Firm published a white paper summarizing its perspective on the role that the voluntary carbon market plays, current market challenges, and how JPMorgan Chase is working to support and leverage a more effective carbon market. It also presents a set of core principles that the Firm references when evaluating carbon credits to support the Firm’s sustainability commitments and engaging with clients on carbon credit-related transactions.

“The voluntary carbon market needs science-based and equitable criteria to ensure carbon credits represent genuine emissions reduction or removal. That is why we support the transparency efforts of organizations like the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets and are working with Carbon Direct, as we seek to deliver on a science-driven strategy for carbon management,” said Taylor Wright, Head of Strategy, Operational Sustainability & Carbon Management, JPMorgan Chase.

The Firm is building resources to support more unified global standards, improve market infrastructure and help companies implement their own effective carbon management strategies, including understanding how to evaluate carbon market risks, benefits and best practices for tracking progress over time.