Global Carbon-Removal Targets Hinge on Trillions in Investment, Report Shows

The analysis, Carbon Removal Market Outlook (October 2025), outlines the enormous financial and technological efforts needed to remove between 5 and 22 gigatons of CO₂ each year by mid-century. The wide range highlights the uncertainty surrounding future progress—and the sheer scale of the task.

Drone photo of a large BECCS facility next to a lush green forest. AI generated picture.

Based on insights from over 60 academic studies, the report points to technical solutions such as biochar, biomass storage, enhanced rock weathering, and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) as leading candidates for large-scale carbon removal. Together, these technologies could account for nearly half of global CO₂ removals by 2050.

AlliedOffsets places the average cost of these approaches at around $160 per tonne of CO₂, assuming that global emissions reductions continue alongside removal efforts. To achieve the necessary scale, total investments could range from $1.22 trillion under conservative projections to $5.8 trillion in high-removal scenarios.

This estimate mirrors findings from other major research groups. McKinsey & Company projects demand for durable carbon-removal credits could reach 100 million tonnes by 2030, while the International Energy Agency (IEA) notes that ‘long-term demand certainty must come from new policy frameworks, including advance procurement commitments and stronger standard-setting’, to allow removal technologies to mature.

Experts caution that without clearer policies and stable demand signals, growth in the carbon-removal sector could slow. For now, most technologies remain capital-intensive and face long payback periods—challenges that underline the urgent need for coordinated public and private investment.