World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024

The past week at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos marked a pivotal moment for Climeworks as we passionately advocated for and accelerated the global push toward carbon removal.  

From our active participation in the official program at the Congress Center to events we participated in as speakers, here's a glimpse of the impactful strides we made: 

As a member of the World Economic Forum, Climeworks took part in the official program at the Congress Center.  

Our Founder and co-CEO Christoph Gebald participated in different sessions to clarify the role of VCM (Voluntary carbon markets) in deploying carbon removal at scale, identified catalysts to accelerate corporate action, and set the stage for near-term, tangible progress in 2024.

We took an active participation in discussions fostering collaboration between technology providers, and corporate and government members to move beyond commitment to action. 

Our key insights: 

• Climate action is gaining momentum as COP28 climate talks agreed on transitioning away from fossil fuels thus massively increasing deployment of renewables. 

• Climate scientists now agree that CO₂ removal technologies are necessary in tandem with decarbonization to reach net-zero, still policies are largely missing. There is a need for rapid and radical corporate action to reach net-zero targets, with a focus on a 90% reduction in emissions by 2050 and 10% on removal for hard-to-abate and historic emissions. 

• Urgency for action: we need to accelerate carbon removal technologies within this decade.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that 2023 was the hottest year on record, with global temperatures close to the 1.5°C limit. The world is not on track to reach its international climate targets, over seven years since the participants in the Paris Agreement committed to restraining global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and ideally below 1.5 C. Both targets are approaching, and humanity could surpass the 1.5 C threshold within a decade or so.  

• Clear, tangible outcomes are lacking in discussions about climate action and carbon removal, urging corporations to take the lead. Incremental, small-scale initiatives have the potential to generate substantial real-world effects, emphasizing the necessity for early adoption to scale high-quality climate technologies. 

• Climeworks is aligned with best available climate science and has a unique position as the only carbon removal company deployed at commercial scale for half a decade, with a clear trajectory to achieve megaton removal by the end of the decade and lead the global rollout of carbon removal solutions. We now need to get the capital moving in this direction.

Climeworks’ exclusive discussions: a week of collaborative engagement 

In addition to our active participation in the official program, we organized sessions in the Climeworks Net Zero Café on the Promenade with IMD, Accenture, BCG, Puro. Earth, Shyla Raghav from TIME, the First Mover Coalition that facilitated meaningful interactions, collaboration, and networking.

The success of our roundtable at Goals House further demonstrated the potential of powerful corporations and sustainability leaders to make a tangible difference in the fight against climate change.

Climeworks expertise showcased at Davos side events 

Our co-founder and co-CEO Jan Wurzbacher, and Climeworks’ leadership team members Andreas Aepli, Daniel Nathan, and Jan Huckfeldt participated in discussions at Axios House, Goals House, and House of Switzerland.

The spotlight was on Climeworks' remarkable progress in technology and growth over the past years and our commitment to pushing the boundaries of carbon removal, a critical step in mitigating the impacts of climate change.

Charting the Future

As we turn the page of a fruitful week in Davos, the conversations, collaborations, and insights gained provide great momentum to propel us forward for a momentous year 2024 for carbon removal solutions.  

Thank you to our dedicated team and partners for making the WEF Annual Meeting 2024 a week to remember. Let’s remove to zero together.