ENGIE, a French multinational utility company and CarbonX, a France-based carbon market service-providing startup, have joined forces to scale the early market for permanent carbon removals through the investment of ENGIE New Ventures in the Paris-based startup.
The partnership is further strengthened by a collaboration with ENGIE’s Global Energy Management & Sales division, which seeks to offer CarbonX’s solutions to its extensive customer base. CarbonX’s continued focus on market intelligence, procurement, finance, and risk management will help new and existing buyers optimize strategies, maximise impact, and manage risk.
ENGIE New Ventures, ENGIE’s investment arm for innovative start-ups driving the energy transition, has teamed up with Redstone and PROfounders to invest in CarbonX. This funding round solidifies CarbonX’s role as a key partner for organisations with net-zero and net-negative ambitions.
“Engaging in this ‘pre-compliance’ market now, alongside emissions reduction programmes, enables organisations to contribute to the development of carbon removal methods at scale, gain experience, and secure future supply while addressing carbon liabilities and future carbon accounting frameworks.” said Paolo Piffaretti, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of CarbonX.
“Through this investment and the partnership with CarbonX, ENGIE further demonstrates its global leadership in accelerating the green transition. Reaching net zero will require a broad set of solutions, not only to decarbonise, but also to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it permanently,” said Jérôme Malka, Executive Committee member at ENGIE’s business entity ‘Global Energy Management & Sales’.
He added, “CarbonX is uniquely placed to help our customers navigate the emerging CDR market and to contribute to scale the most promising CDR technologies.”
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is essential to meet global and national net-zero targets. While CDR cannot replace the need for immediate and substantial emissions reductions, it is a key component in all scenarios that limit global warming to 2°C or below by 2100. These scenarios, aligned with the Paris Agreement’s sustainable development goals, estimate CDR deployment will need to reach between 7 to 9 GtCO2 per year by 2050.