It was recently announced that Climeworks will be permanently removing carbon dioxide emissions from the air on British Airway’s behalf. The company plans to do this through the use of its Direct Air Capture technology.

To begin with this will be a small volume, however the partnership that has now been created is designed to help stimulate and from there to scale the carbon removal market. Proceeding with this process is extremely important for reaching global climate targets, along with helping avoid the worst impacts that could be caused by climate change. Through this partnership, British Airways has become the third airline to partner with Climeworks.

One of the reasons that led to this partnership, is that removing hard-to-abate CO2 emissions remaining by 2050, is incredibly important when it comes to achieving the aviation industry’s goal of reaching net zero. Right now, aviation has limited alternatives to fossil fuels, which means that carbon removal becomes necessary for helping to address the emissions which are unable to be eliminated at the moment.

This partnership is also a step forwards for Climeworks as at the moment the company operates the world’s two largest Direct Air Capture plants located in Iceland and it also has plans to continue to scale its capacity. But, before the required gigatons of CO2 can be removed from the air, it is essential that a suite of engineered and nature-based carbon removal solutions are provided with the opportunity to flourish.

Director of Sustainability at British Airways, Carrie Harris, commented, “There is no pathway to net zero for aviation without carbon removals. We are delighted to be working with Climeworks, whose Direct Air Capture solution provides permanent, certified removals, which is a unique quality in this young industry. While a small purchase in comparison to our total emissions, we have purchased these carbon removal credits to help stimulate the carbon removals market and help lay the groundwork for the large-scale changes needed to meet our climate goals.”

Chief Commercial Officer at Climeworks, Adrian Siegrist, mentioned, “Global carbon removal capacities will not grow fast enough unless we see more ambition and concrete action from the private and public sectors. British Airways is setting a strong example with its portfolio of carbon removal solutions. We look forward to working with them, as they not only understand the magnitude of the challenge but are eager to tackle it head-on.”