Scaling CDR: Record Markets, Policy Shifts, and the Future of Carbon Removal - Sebastian Manhart

In this episode of This Week in Carbon, host Edward Smith and co-host Rene Velasquez are joined by Sebastian Manhart, Senior Policy Advisor at Carbon Future and co-host of the CDR Policy Scoop podcast, to explore the rapidly evolving world of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR).

Sebastian shares his journey from social entrepreneurship to advising Angela Merkel’s chancellery, highlighting Carbon Future’s mission to build trust infrastructure for a scalable CDR market through robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV). The discussion dives into record-breaking CDR market growth, Europe’s delayed climate targets, and groundbreaking national policies, offering a deep dive into the numbers, politics, and future of CDR.

We discuss:

• The CDR market’s historic Q2 2025, driven by Microsoft’s mega-deals and growing corporate demand

• Risks of market concentration and the need for compliance markets to ensure long-term stability

• Europe’s 2040 climate target delays and the significant role of international offsets under Article 6

• The UK’s 15-year Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and Germany’s €500M CDR investment by 2033

• Overcoming environmentalist skepticism and the mainstreaming of CDR as a critical climate solution