The Green Blueprint Inside Microsoft’s plan to remove 50 years of carbon emissions
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Dec 12, 2025 Phil Goodman, Director of Microsoft's carbon removal portfolio, shares insights on the company's ambitious goal to eliminate 50 years of carbon emissions by 2050. He discusses the challenges of fostering an emerging carbon dioxide removal market and the importance of structuring innovative offtake agreements. Goodman highlights key partnerships, such as with Chestnut Carbon for large-scale reforestation, and reveals how Microsoft's approach balances low and high-durability projects. He also emphasizes the need for improved verification and startup funding to accelerate market growth.
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Microsoft's Market-Making Climate Goal
- Microsoft set a goal to be carbon negative by 2030 and to remove all historical emissions by 2050, creating large CDR demand.
- In 2020 the market for high-quality carbon removal was tiny compared to Microsoft's needs, so Microsoft had to help create the market.
Orsted Deal Signaled The Market
- The Orsted deal (2.7 million tons over 11 years) was a turning point that improved the quality and volume of supplier applications.
- Phil says that announcing that transaction signaled the market and spurred many suppliers to follow suit.
Use PPA Structure Plus Durability Rules
- Build CDR contracts on a PPA-style backbone but add durability and reversal protections unique to carbon removal.
- Require third-party registry issuance and strengthen methodologies or add contractual protections where registries fall short.