Description of the Company
Carbon Neutral Initiative BV is a company that was established in the Netherlands in 2021. It currently has 3 employees. It is developing an enhanced weathering solution using a certified soil improver called Wo20. According to the company, when applied to agricultural land, Wo20 accelerates the natural process of silicate weathering, leading to the stable removal of atmospheric CO₂. Each tonne of Wo20 applied removes approximately 0.51 tonnes of CO₂. The product is certified under EU Regulation 2019/1009 and is accepted for use in organic farming systems.
The company has chosen this method because it combines long-term CO₂ removal with tangible benefits for farmers and soils. Unlike many engineered solutions, the approach is scalable, nature-based, and offers co-benefits such as improved soil health and yield. The certified product allows for safe and compliant implementation, and the close collaboration with local farmers ensures both climate and community impact. Additionally, the method aligns well with MRV standards and emerging carbon markets.
CDR Support
The company has not received public funding but has two angel investors. At the end of 2021, going into early 2022, the company received a €25,000 grant from Climate-KIC, which supported our early-stage development activities.
In 2023, two business angels jointly invested in exchange for a combined 25% equity stake in the company. Their involvement has been instrumental in helping scale up operations and accelerate the development of carbon removal solutions.
CDR Market
The company participates in the voluntary carbon market and it has two main groups of clients: i) private consumers and municipalities that purchase their nature-based climate products such as carbon-removing green roofs and CO2-smart soil improvers and ii) corporate buyers, especially in the tech and finance sectors, who purchase the associated carbon removal credits to meet their climate goals and sustainability commitments.
The presence of clients from both of the sectors allows the company to scale adoption while lowering cost barrier for individual users through carbon credit revenue.
CDR Regulations
There were no CDR-specific requirements in relation to enhanced weathering or soil-based carbon removal in Europe that were in place when the company started its operations. As a result, it worked proactively to align with existing agricultural, soil improver and accounting standards.
In the Netherlands and Germany, it uses the Stichting Nationale Koolstofmarkt (‘SNK’) methodology, which provides a structured approach for monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon removal. That said, the lack of international accreditation (e.g. ICROA) initially posed a barrier to broader market acceptance-this is now being addressed as SNK is working toward ICROA recognition.
According to the company, outside Europe, regulatory uncertainty remains a challenge. Due to this reason, it has chosen to align with the Isometric methodology for its Spanish project, which offers robust scientific grounding and transparency, even in the absence of national carbon removal regulation.
Moreover, the company has stressed that the main obstacle has been the absence of harmonized, recognized CDR standards, especially for novel pathways like enhanced weathering.
Lastly, the company has indicated that when it started its business, there were no direct CDR-specific regulatory incentives available at the national or EU level for enhanced weathering or other carbon removal methods.
CDR Outlook
The company has highlighted that it is planning to expand its business globally, with the main targets being Germany and Spain.
According to the company, CDR will become an essential pillar of global climate strategy, alongside emission reductions. In addition, it has stressed that the urgency of climate targets means that high-integrity, durable CDR solutions must scale rapidly over the next decade.
However, it has also cautioned that CDR can be successfully deployed in the future if three conditions are met. First, robust MRV standards should be established to ensure transparency and build trust in removal claims. Second, policy support and public funding should be provided in order to accelerate deployment and bridge the early-stage cost gap. Third, CDR should be integrated with real-world value chains where CDR delivers co-benefits such as soil health, biodiversity or local employment.
Nonetheless, the company is of the view that enhanced weathering is a particularly promising pathway because it combines permanent CO2 storage with natural, agricultural value. As a result, it expects that with the right frameworks and market signals CDR can evolve from a niche innovation to a mainstream climate tool.
That being said, according to the company, the long-term deployment of CDR faces several interconnected barriers. It has provided the description below regarding the barriers:
1. Regulatory uncertainty: Many jurisdictions lack clear, science-based standards for CDR. This creates difficulties in scaling projects, securing recognition, and attracting investment.
2. High upfront costs and limited financing: CDR is still expensive per tonne compared to traditional offsets, especially for durable methods like enhanced weathering. Early-stage projects need bridging finance and long-term buyer commitments.
3. Measurement and verification challenges: Particularly for distributed or nature-based methods, it remains difficult to quantify and verify removals at high precision while keeping costs manageable.
4. Social acceptance and awareness: While some CDR methods (e.g., afforestation) are familiar, others—such as mineral weathering—require more communication and trust-building, especially among landowners and the public.
5. Market fragmentation: A lack of harmonized global standards makes it harder for buyers to compare and trust credits, and for developers to operate across borders.
The company is of the view that addressing these barriers will require collaboration between governments, scientists, companies and civil society to create a credible, equitable and scalable CDR ecosystem.
Nonetheless, the company has highlighted that there are also the following encouraging signs in favor of the diffused employment of CDR methods and their integration into climate policy and markets:
1. Growing scientific consensus and policy attention: Institutions like the IPCC have made it clear that CDR is essential to meet climate targets. The EU and national governments are starting to develop frameworks (e.g. the CRCF) to support it.
2. Advancing MRV technologies: Improvements in remote sensing, soil analysis, and digital reporting systems are making it easier to measure and verify carbon removals—especially for nature-based and mineral approaches.
3. Market growth and corporate demand: Major companies are committing to net zero and looking for high-integrity CDR credits. This drives early demand and investment in scalable solutions like enhanced weathering.
4. Methodology development and standardization: Initiatives like SNK, Isometric, and emerging global standards are helping legitimize new CDR pathways and provide credibility to carbon credits.
5. Local co-benefits and stakeholder engagement: When CDR is tied to improved soil health, farmer income, or biodiversity—as in our projects—it creates community support and long-term viability.
The company is of the view that addressing these barriers will require collaboration between governments, scientists, companies and civil society to create a credible, equitable and scalable CDR ecosystem.
Nonetheless, the company has highlighted that there are also the following encouraging signs in favor of the diffused employment of CDR methods and their integration into climate policy and markets:
1. Growing scientific consensus and policy attention: Institutions like the IPCC have made it clear that CDR is essential to meet climate targets. The EU and national governments are starting to develop frameworks (e.g. the CRCF) to support it.
2. Advancing MRV technologies: Improvements in remote sensing, soil analysis, and digital reporting systems are making it easier to measure and verify carbon removals—especially for nature-based and mineral approaches.
3. Market growth and corporate demand: Major companies are committing to net zero and looking for high-integrity CDR credits. This drives early demand and investment in scalable solutions like enhanced weathering.
4. Methodology development and standardization: Initiatives like SNK, Isometric, and emerging global standards are helping legitimize new CDR pathways and provide credibility to carbon credits.
5. Local co-benefits and stakeholder engagement: When CDR is tied to improved soil health, farmer income, or biodiversity—as in our projects—it creates community support and long-term viability.
CDR and Society
The company considers local community engagement central to its approach. Their enhanced weathering projects are implemented in direct collaboration with local farmers, who apply the Wo20 soil improver to their land. These farmers are not just beneficiaries—they are co-creators of the climate impact.
The company provides training, agronomic support, and transparent communication about both the environmental and economic aspects of the project. They also work to ensure that co-benefits such as soil health, yield improvements, and long-term fertility are realized locally.
The company’s goal is to make CDR not only climate-positive, but socially inclusive and locally relevant.