Carbon removal projects often need to spend meaningful money before reaching the milestones that make buyers and capital providers comfortable: first verified delivery, contracted demand or credible operating history. But this is not only a funding gap. Projects are also building the evidence, documentation, relationships and operating track record that make future finance possible.

In this campfire, developers, buyers and capital providers will compare where projects actually get stuck, what proof changes the risk conversation, and which forms of capital fit which stage. Who should fund the expensive journey to first credit, and what would make that bridge more repeatable?

Hitting global targets for carbon removal will require a functioning ETS in North America. But the US Congress is, well, a bit broken when it comes to climate action. However, States and Provinces have quite a bit of power! California, Washington, and Quebec all have existing ETS's and they have just agreed to link their carbon markets into a common platform. Mike Robinson, Director of PacCLEAN.org will lay out a clear strategy for developing and growing this platform into a North American ETS covering $12T - $15T in GDP -- without having to wait for Congress!

As Executive Director and Founder of the Indonesian Biochar Association (ABII) and CEO of Sawa EcoSolutions, I've spent the past several years working directly with Indonesian government ministries, regulators, and policymakers to help shape the country's emerging approach to biochar, carbon markets, and CDR more broadly. This session will draw on that experience to explore how CDR developers can constructively engage government stakeholders in emerging markets – building trust, navigating regulatory uncertainty, and translating technical MRV concepts into policy-relevant language. The discussion will be practical and peer-driven, aimed at surfacing transferable lessons for attendees working in other jurisdictions with nascent or evolving CDR regulatory frameworks.

Discussion points I'd plan to raise at the table:

• How to identify and win over the right government counterparts early, before formal policy exists
• Balancing the pace of commercial CDR development against the pace of regulatory maturity
• Positioning industry associations (e.g. ABII) as a bridge between developers and regulators
• Translating MRV, additionality, and permanence concepts into language that resonates with policymakers
• Managing political transitions and institutional turnover without losing regulatory momentum
• Practical examples from Indonesia's biochar and carbon market journey that other markets could adapt

We know that CDR will be essential to tackling the climate crisis but the market will scale only when buyers, investors and project developers have confidence that projects are deliverable and financeable. A robust market depends on reliable systems and insurance is already helping developers turn uncertain future revenues into something more bankable.

In this practical breakout session Matt and Lara from Marsh’s Carbon Credit Insurance team will unpack how insurance can help address the risks that currently hold back investment in CDR: what happens if a project under delivers? How can we help buyers invest more confidently? How can insurance facilitate cheaper capital?

We will explore what carbon insurance is, how it works, who it is for and why it will be a critical enabler of a trusted carbon market. We will also look at the questions buyers and developers should be asking, the challenges insurers face, and what needs to happen next for insurance solutions to support CDR at scale.

This is a 101 session designed to make a complex topic accessible and give you a clearer view of how sharing and allocating risk could help unlock the next phase of CDR.

This discussion will explore the global south and especially India’s vast potential as an emerging carbon market and carbon project developer. The discussion focuses on opportunities in carbon credits and climate finance with its large primary and secondary sectors. It highlights why India could become a major destination for climate-focused investment.

The ambition to finance positive environmental outcomes is clear, and investor appetite is growing. Yet turning that ambition into bankable transactions remains challenging.

What if the biggest barrier isn't the availability of capital, but the risks lenders are being asked to assume?

Join Enosis Capital and Texel for an interactive discussion exploring how insurance, credit enhancement and innovative financing structures as proven in the world of debt of nature swaps can help overcome these barriers, mobilise private capital and scale investment in carbon and nature markets.

Buyers already have plenty of reasons to say no to carbon removal. Don't let your sales process be another one.

Across the market, we keep seeing the same pattern. Companies that raised tens of millions for their technology spend almost nothing on selling it. Plants get built and credits pile up, while the commercial process gets left to chance: slow replies, messy diligence, a champion left alone to win internal sign-off, and an RFP filled in by AI and then read by AI.

The days of easy money and frictionless buying are over. Waiting for the market to come to you is now a strategy, and a costly one.

The damage also spreads. One poor buying experience doesn't just lose a deal. It can put a corporate buyer off carbon removal entirely.

That makes commercial readiness a shared responsibility amongst us all.

Scaling permanent carbon removal requires shifting from geographically isolated voluntary procurement to large-scale, global demand that is driven in large part by government policy. Systemic industry collaboration is essential to shape this transition at all stages of the process. CDR industry associations address this by gathering together buyers, investors, market makers and developers to coalesce around common views and standards, and then acting as the conduit for the industry to communicate with partners and stakeholders. This interactive campfire session breaks down the fragmented market to map out a structured roadmap for mature, industrial-scale deployment. Including:

Trajectory of CDR, The ecosystem, Maturity requires structure, Value proposition of industry associations, Bottlenecks, Cost, Bandwidth Lack of familiarity/understanding.