City CDR Initiative

The City CDR Initiative consortium (20 cities, 23 partners, 18 developers) has assessed the opportunity of city-led #CarbonRemoval. Building on our Vision Paper launched at Climate Week NY, we now present: 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗕𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝐈𝐄𝐒 - 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃-𝐆𝐀𝐏 𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐒 ➡️ 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤: https://lnkd.in/eCH5K83s ‼️ 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Any city aiming for net zero must use carbon removal to balance residual emissions. In a worsening climate crisis, urban CDR can also meaningfully contribute to global climate restoration. This report assesses how cities can deploy CDR at scale – and the gaps holding them back. 💡𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆: To build regenerative urban systems and achieve net-zero or net-negative footprints, cities will need to expand natural and engineered carbon sinks across infrastructure, buildings and urban systems. Early estimates show a supply potential of ~1–16 Gt CO₂/yr and a demand potential of ~0.5 Gt CO₂/yr across the 1,145 Race to Zero cities. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬:  1️⃣ Many CDR methods and urban deployment pathways have been demonstrated and are ready to scale. 2️⃣ Today’s multi-level governance net-zero climate action does not incentivize cities to address residual emissions 3️⃣ Cities have no access to high quality guidance on how to reflect negative emissions in city GHG inventories. 4️⃣ The city climate finance landscape is not set up to fund CDR projects in cities, making it challenging for cash-strapped local governments. 5️⃣ Cities have the tools to support CDR, but municipal administrations are not set up to take a systemic approach to CDR. 6️⃣ Governance innovation is needed to enable cross-administrative approaches that embrace climate action synergies. 📢 Together with our Vision Paper and the upcoming Implementation Guide, this analysis outlines a future where cities become true agents of climate restoration. Empowering local governments on their path to net-zero and beyond is no longer optional. It's essential! 👉 What you can do: ➤ Follow our LinkedIn page for updates. ➤ Like and share the news to help expand our reach. ➤ Tell us what you think. ➤ Engage your local councilors. #CarbonSinkCities #CarbonRemoval #UrbanResilience #UrbanTransformation #NegativeEmissions #ClimateRestoration #NetZero #NetNegative #CoBenefits

🤝 Yesterday, November 19th, Christopher Neidl, Advisor to the City CDR Initiative, and Ole Thonke, Climate Ambassador & Undersecretary for Development Policy, Denmark, signed an MoU at COP30 Brazil for CityCDR to join the Group of Negative Emitters (GONE). Quoting Ambassador Thonke: "CityCDR joining GONE is very important since cities stand for 70% of global emissions and 55% of the population. It is substantial that cities join." CityCDR is very excited to embark on this collaboration to build the multi-level governance for CDR at scale. ➡️ GONE Countries: Denmark, Ethiopia, Finland, Kenya, the Netherlands, Panama, Suriname, Sweden. ➡️ CityCDR Cities: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boulder County, Bristol, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Flagstaff, Glasgow, Hamburg, Helsinki, Minneapolis, New York City, Quito, San Diego, San Francisco, Santiago, Stockholm, Sydney, Zurich. #CarbonRemoval #NegativeEmissions #CarbonSinks #UrbanTransformation #GovernanceInnovation Frederik Jallov-Haag Therese Rydstedt Charlotta Porsö Björn Hugosson Jonas Fricker Rene Estermann Pil Damgaard Hasselager Jesper Paulsen Hanna Wesslin Iina Oilinki Gavin Slater Charlotte Wallace Alex Minshull Tesse Bijleveld Christiaan Norde Simon Ehrenfels Miguel Riviere Lowell Chu, LC, CEM, LEED AP Ryan Ramos Nik Midlam Susie Strife, PhD Ava R. Gisele Medeiros Felipe Maia Ehmke Joe Chavez, CEM Michelle Midanier, CC-P Andrew Martin Chandra Farley Julia Chase James Doten

#CDR30 #COP30 #CDR #Denmark 🚨🚨🚨 TODAY: 15:30 - 17:00 If you are in #Belem, have Blue Zone access, and want to see what 🌍 GLOBAL CARBON REMOVAL POLITICAL LEADERSHIP LOOKS LIKE join us at the Danish Pavilion 🇩🇰 for The Group of Negative Emitters' (GONE) Ministerial Panel "Closing the Ambition Gap: The Role of Carbon Removals." Following opening remarks from H.E. Sophie Hermans, The Netherlands Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth, and the signing of an exciting new MOU partnership between GONE and the City CDR Initiative, I will have the great honor of moderating an amazing panel discussion with six distinguished high-level ministers representing 6 GONE country members: 🇸🇷 H.E. Patrick Brunings, Minister of Oil, Gas and Environment, Suriname 🇸🇪 H.E. Helena Dyrssen, Deputy Minister for Climate and the Environment, Sweden 🇪🇹 H.E. Seyoum Mekonen, State Minister of Planning and Development, Ethiopia  🇫🇮 H.E. Sari Multala, Minister of Climate and the Environment, Finland 🇳🇱 H.E. Sophie Hermans, Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth, the Netherlands 🇩🇰 H.E. Lars Aagaard, Minister for Climate, Energy & Utilities, Denmark 🙌 Let's pack the room and send a strong message to GONE members, future GONE members and everyone within eyeshot of the Danish Pavilion that #CDR has arrived for good as a serious and permanent priority of the Paris Agreement policy agenda!!!!

#CDR30 #COP30 #CDR #Denmark 🚨🚨🚨 TODAY: 15:30 - 17:00 If you are in #Belem, have Blue Zone access, and want to see what 🌍 GLOBAL CARBON REMOVAL POLITICAL LEADERSHIP LOOKS LIKE join us at the Danish Pavilion 🇩🇰 for The Group of Negative Emitters' (GONE) Ministerial Panel "Closing the Ambition Gap: The Role of Carbon Removals." Following opening remarks from H.E. Sophie Hermans, The Netherlands Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth, and the signing of an exciting new MOU partnership between GONE and the City CDR Initiative, I will have the great honor of moderating an amazing panel discussion with six distinguished high-level ministers representing 6 GONE country members: 🇸🇷 H.E. Patrick Brunings, Minister of Oil, Gas and Environment, Suriname 🇸🇪 H.E. Helena Dyrssen, Deputy Minister for Climate and the Environment, Sweden 🇪🇹 H.E. Seyoum Mekonen, State Minister of Planning and Development, Ethiopia  🇫🇮 H.E. Sari Multala, Minister of Climate and the Environment, Finland 🇳🇱 H.E. Sophie Hermans, Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth, the Netherlands 🇩🇰 H.E. Lars Aagaard, Minister for Climate, Energy & Utilities, Denmark 🙌 Let's pack the room and send a strong message to GONE members, future GONE members and everyone within eyeshot of the Danish Pavilion that #CDR has arrived for good as a serious and permanent priority of the Paris Agreement policy agenda!!!!

One in five people worldwide are said to feel strong impacts from climate change on a daily basis. #ClimateAdaptation and #ResilienceBuilding are therefore central topics at COP30 Brazil. This offers a window to promote integrated planning with #CarbonDioxideRemoval and #CarbonSinks. 🔎 Together with Laurie Ashley, adaptation and resilience expert (ex-USAID), I wrote an article on how 'Integrating carbon removal can make COP30 a turning point for urban adaptation'. We present an initial mapping of adaptation-CDR integration opportunities and risks, and introduce six principles for city-led adaptation-CDR integration. 🤝 We build on the concept "adaptive carbon removal" introduced by Holly Jean Buck, Frances M. W. and others in their 2020 article “Adaptation and Carbon Removal”. We point out potential win-win opportunities that advance local and global adaptation and mitigation goals in projects and policy, delivering "impact multiplier effects". Conversely, we show how faulty policy and project designs can also lead to instances of "maladaptation". 💡 Adaptation-CDR win-win opportunities (sample): ✅ Cities can promote adaptation-CDR co-benefits through nature-based solutions (NbS) and carbon-storing materials in resilient infrastructure. ✅ Matching climate adaptation efforts with CDR is an opportunity to achieve climate adaptation and mitigation co-benefits with the same finite dollars. ✅ The CDR component of adaptation-CDR efforts can generate carbon credit revenues to further fund and sustain adaptation efforts. 📢 Call to action: 1️⃣ COP30 negotiators must factor carbon removal into the discussions on adaptation finance, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). 2️⃣ Cities should structurally consider the potential for CDR integration when designing adaptation policies and projects to achieve co-benefits and unlock additional resources for adaptation. 3️⃣ Cities should consider governance innovation required to enhance government capacity and planning to realize adaptation-CDR co-benefits, such as by equiping Chief Resilience Officers. ‼️ This analysis is part of an urban-CDR opportunity baselining assessment under the City CDR Initiative 🔜 Our 'Pathways to Carbon Sink Cities: Need-Gap Analysis' will be published shortly on carbonsinkcities.com! ➡️ Article link: https://lnkd.in/e3_JBmyj Resilient Cities Network Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Resilient Cities Catalyst Urban Resilience Hub by UN-Habitat's CRGPU Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) Urban Transitions Mission NetZeroCitiesEU C40 Cities Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) ICLEI The Rockefeller Foundation ClimateWorks Foundation Quadrature Climate Foundation Howden Foundation Laudes Foundation Grundfos Foundation | PDJF

Tomorrow, November 18th, the City CDR Initiative will sign an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Group of Negative Emitters (GONE). 🤝 This MoU brings together City CDR's 20 cities and partners with GONE's 8 countries in an effort to unlock synergies, realize multi-level governance mechanisms, and catalyze global carbon removal leading towards global net-negative emissions in line with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.  📆 Signing at a hybrid event (1:30-3:00pm) on 'Closing the Ambition Gap: The Role of Carbon Removals' at COP30 Brazil hosted at the Danish Pavilion and organized by The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities of Denmark. It will be live-streamed by CDR30: The Global CDR Initiative at COP30. ✍ Christopher Neidl, Strategic Advisor to City CDR and Carbon Removal Lead at the Climate High-Level Champions will sign on behalf of City CDR. The event will have ministers from GONE members Denmark, Ethiopia, Finland, the Netherlands, Suriname and Sweden. 🎦 Live stream: https://lnkd.in/dRpiCKGT Lars Aagaard Sophie Hermans Sari Multala Patrick Brunings Seyoum Mekonen Hailu Ali Mohamed Helena Dyrssen Chris Sherwood Nico Fairbairn, MEM Melanie Robinson Nancy Saich Gregor Sahler Frederik Jallov-Haag Ole Thonke

Tomorrow, is the City CDR Initiative's third event at COP30 Brazil on #CarbonRemoval and #CarbonSinks in cities. We are organizing this event together with the Climate High-Level Champions. If you are in Belém, join us! 📢 'Municipal Power: How to Realize Carbon Sink Cities?' 📌 CDR30: The Global CDR Initiative at COP30 (C109), Blue Zone 📆 November 14th, 2025 🕔 1:30 - 3:00 (local time) The event is moderated by City CDR's Executive Director, Christiaan Gevers Deynoot, and Climate Champions' CDR Lead, Christopher Neidl. It will feature the launch of City CDR's new report 'Pathways to Carbon Sink Cities: Need-Gap Analysis', a keynote fireside chat with leading urban designers, and a panel discussion with urban decision makers and experts. Speakers: Mina Hasman, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Joan Ko, Arup; Lea Ranalder, UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme); David Babson, XPRIZE; Iina Oilinki, Helsingin kaupunki – Helsingfors stad – City of Helsinki; and Asif Nawaz Shah, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) representing Mission Innovation's Urban Transitions Mission. #CarbonSinkCities #UrbanTransformation #ResidualEmissions #NetZero #NetNegative #NegativeEmissions #MunicipalAgency Nikki Batchelor, Giorgia Rambelli, Diane Catherine, Jillian Augenstein, Rhys Remeika, Hanna Wesslin, Julia Brown, Ross Kenyon

COP30 Brazil - City CDR Initiative Event Series! 📢 This November, Brazil is hosting the COP30. City CDR is on the ground with three events on how to unlock Urban Carbon Dioxide Removal at scale with maximimum impact. Focus areas: 1. multi-stakeholder governance; 2. CDR methods and deployment pathways; 3. the municipal toolbox. 1️⃣'Carbon Dioxide Removal at Scale: What Role for Multi-Level Governance' on November 10th at 5:00 – 5:45 (Finland Pavilion). Co-organizers: Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA) and Bellona Europa. 🗣️ Speakers: Hanna Wesslin, Climate Director, Helsingin kaupunki – Helsingfors stad – City of Helsinki; Hugh Lim, Executive Director, Centre for Liveable Cities, Singapore; Maurice Akech, Executive Director, National Construction Authority, Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development , Kenya; Jonas M. Helseth, Executive Director, Bellona Europa; Christiaan Gevers Deynoot, Executive Director, City CDR Initiative. 2️⃣'Negative Emissions: How to Remove Carbon Dioxide in Urban areas?' on November 11th at 11:00 – 12:00 (Finland Pavilion). Co-organizer: Helsingin kaupunki – Helsingfors stad – City of Helsinki. 🗣️ Speakers: Hanna Wesslin, Climate Director, Helsingin kaupunki – Helsingfors stad – City of Helsinki; Leena Järvi, Professor, Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) of Sustainability Science; Matti Kuittinen, Professor of resource-efficient construction, Aalto University; Mina Hasman, Sustainability Director, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Christiaan Gevers Deynoot, Executive Director, City CDR Initiative. 3️⃣'Municipal Power: How to Realize Carbon Sink Cities?' on November 14th at 1:30 – 3:00 (CDR30: The Global CDR Initiative at COP30 Pavilion). The City CDR Initiative will launch its report 'Pathways to Carbon Sink Cities: Need-Gap Analysis'. Co-organizer: Climate High-Level Champions. 🗣️ Speakers: Lea Ranalder, Associate Programme Management Officer, Human Settlements, UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme); Iina Oilinki, Project Director, Climate Unit, Helsingin kaupunki – Helsingfors stad – City of Helsinki; Mina Hasman, Sustainability Director, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Joan Ko, Global Climate and Sustainability Leader, Arup; Christopher Neidl, Carbon Removal Lead, Climate High-Level Champions; Christiaan Gevers Deynoot, Executive Director, City CDR Initiative. #CarbonSinkCities #UrbanTransformation #CarbonRemoval #UrbanResilience #ClimateAdaptation #NegativeEmissions #NetZero #NetNegative #UrbanMetabolism

Over the last few months, we worked hard on a radical new urban vision that we launched at Climate Week NY. We’re super thrilled to share it online! 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗕𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 - 𝗔 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗨𝗥𝗕𝗔𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗠 📉 𝗨𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: In this era of climate crisis and rapid urbanization, the lack of a vision on the role of cities as carbon sinks is a gap in the global climate effort. 68% of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050 and 60% of the buildings that will exist by 2050 have yet to be built. We cannot afford to build this stock with the old thinking. 💡 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆: Cities are at the center of economic and cultural life and the primary drivers of global emissions. In this challenge lies an unprecedented opportunity: to reimagine and reshape cities as living systems that restore the climate and deliver a wide array of ecosystem services to society. This is the new thinking: cities transformed from extractive engines to regenerative ecosystems. 🏙️ 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: A Carbon Sink City is planned and managed so that its systems work together to remove and store carbon while delivering everyday services and protecting nature for collective wellbeing. It embeds carbon-conscious design and planning into the fabric of the urban environment. It weaves carbon removal into the metabolism of urban systems, while honoring the social, cultural and ecological needs of its communities. 📢 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Realizing this vision demands collective leadership and local orchestration, ‘situated’ responses, bold investments and a willingness to embrace new models of value, and inclusive governance. ➡️ 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 must recognize the vital role of cities, empower city leaders, and include Indigenous Peoples in the restoration of our climate. ➡️ 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 must show carbon removal leadership for local businesses to follow and ensure that ensuring that the next generation of growth is regenerative by design. ➡️ 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 must pioneer funding pathways that prioritize carbon-positive infrastructure and reward cities for ecological performance. ➡️ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 must work in solidarity to develop solutions that are inclusive, adaptable and rooted in science and time-tested practices. 🙏 This Vision Paper is the result of a collaboration between the City CDR Initiative, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, Climate High-Level Champions, XPRIZE, and Conservation International. Big thanks in particular to lead authors Christiaan Gevers Deynoot, Mina Hasman, Stefano Tronci, Sushma Shrestha, and Francisco Souza, and contributing authors Nikki Batchelor, Christopher Neidl and Simone Mangili.