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, including pioneering marine-based solutions.
“Science and policy advances continue to demonstrate the critical need for equitable, science-based CDR standards,” said Jonathan Goldberg, CEO of Carbon Direct. “These updated 2025 benchmarks provide the rigorous, science-based framework needed to help the industry maintain quality.”
The 2025 edition builds upon Microsoft’s rapidly growing CDR procurement program—now totaling over 22 million tonnes—and incorporates lessons from evaluating more than 400 CDR projects across geographies and methods. “These updated criteria reflect our accumulated experience evaluating hundreds of CDR projects,” added Brian Marrs, Senior Director of Energy Markets at Microsoft. “They reflect the latest science and operational insights.”
What’s New in 2025
One of the most notable developments in the 2025 criteria is the inclusion of comprehensive guidance for abiotic marine carbon removal, including Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) and Direct Ocean Removal (DOR). These ocean-based technologies offer significant long-term carbon removal potential, but they also pose unique challenges in terms of biogeochemical monitoring, ocean circulation modeling, and ecosystem risk management.
Additionally, technical definitions and measurement protocols have been expanded and clarified. The updated standards prioritize direct measurement of CO2 removed and stored, where feasible, and incorporate new tools like remote sensing, automated monitoring systems, and advanced analytical techniques.
A strengthened focus on Measurement, Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MMRV) ensures that all project claims are grounded in transparent, repeatable methodologies. Projects must align with peer-reviewed science, conservative assumptions, and ISO standards such as 14040 and 14044.
Core Principles
The framework remains grounded in six science-based principles:
Social harms, benefits, and environmental justice
Environmental harms and benefits
Additionality and baselines
Measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV)
Durability
Leakage
These principles are uniformly applied across engineered, hybrid, and nature-based pathways—ranging from afforestation and soil carbon sequestration to direct air capture and biomass carbon removal and storage.
RELATED ARTICLE: Microsoft and Carbon Direct Launch High-Integrity Standards for Low-Carbon Concrete
Policy Alignment and Global Momentum
The release of the 2025 criteria comes at a critical time for the global CDR industry. The IPCC estimates that 5–10 GtCO₂/year must be removed by mid-century to meet the 1.5°C target, yet current removals remain significantly below this threshold.
Recent developments like the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, the EU’s Carbon Removal Certification Framework, and COP29’s Article 6.4 guidance have provided regulatory momentum, but markets still lack consistent quality benchmarks.
“These criteria not only guide CDR procurement,” said Goldberg, “but also inform broader sustainability strategies, including corporate insetting and decarbonization of industrial sectors.”
Looking Ahead
Microsoft and Carbon Direct plan to continue iterating on these standards. Future editions may incorporate guidance for emerging pathways such as wetland restoration and CO2 utilization technologies, reflecting the sector’s rapid evolution.
By offering an evidence-based, transparent foundation, the 2025 criteria aim to help project developers deliver high-integrity removal while supporting corporate buyers in constructing scientifically credible CDR portfolios.
Read the Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal here.
Follow ESG News on LinkedIn
