This project supported the Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK) in assessing the emerging Austrian market for negative emissions and developing options for a private-sector financing and platform model. The project analysed both the supply and demand side of the Austrian carbon dioxide removal (CDR) market, with a focus on permanent removal certificates under the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF), including BioCCS/BECCS, DACCS and biochar. Building on this market assessment, the project developed a concept for a trading and financing platform designed to reduce transaction barriers, improve transparency and comparability, and support trust in the emerging CDR market.
Key activities include:
- Market Supply Analysis: Assessing the current and emerging supply of temporary and permanent CDR methods in Austria, including biochar, DACCS, BioCCS/BECCS, mineralisation and forestry-based removals.
- Demand-Side Assessment: Identifying potential early buyers of removal certificates among Austrian companies with ambitious climate and net-zero targets, and analysing their readiness to engage with CDR certificates.
- Data Collection and Market Mapping: Developing structured supply- and demand-side datasets, including project information, available volumes, pricing indications, certification status and buyer characteristics.
- Assessment of Market Barriers: Evaluating key barriers to market development, including fragmented supply, limited buyer experience, insufficient price transparency, transaction costs and uncertainty regarding certificate quality.
- Platform Concept Development: Designing options for a platform to support the purchase and sale of permanent CDR certificates, ranging from a project showcase and OTC trading model to competitive tenders, auctions and potential public/private buyers’ club structures.
- Criteria and Governance Design: Developing recommendations on platform mandate, project selection criteria, MRV requirements, permanence, additionality, buyer and seller access, KYC processes, standard contracts and technical platform functionalities.
- Policy and Financing Recommendations: Assessing how the platform could fit into a broader national support framework for CDR market development, including the role of public procurement, CAPEX support, access to finance, CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure, and CRCF capacity building.
- Final Report and Next Steps: Preparing a final report with recommendations for market activation, stakeholder engagement, platform implementation and further development of Austria’s negative-emissions market.