- New marine CDR standards: First-time inclusion of criteria for abiotic marine carbon removal methods like Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement and Direct Ocean Removal.
- Enhanced measurement and verification: The 2025 criteria emphasize direct measurement, remote sensing, and automated monitoring to improve CDR accounting.
- Guidance shaped by real-world data: Insights from Microsoft’s 22-million-tonne CDR procurement and over 400 project evaluations inform rigorous technical updates.
Microsoft and Carbon Direct have released the fifth edition of the Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), introducing robust standards for evaluating and scaling CDR technologies across nine pathways,
