The Library3 of 8
Why does the world need carbon removal, and why now?
Some emissions will be very hard to stop entirely, from sources such as aviation, steel and farming. The IPCC has found that removing carbon dioxide to balance these residual emissions is unavoidable if the world is to reach net zero. Removal is not a substitute for cutting emissions but the part of the work that cutting cannot do.
How much removal will be needed?
The 2024 State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report estimates that pathways which limit warming to 1.5°C need around seven to nine billion tonnes of carbon dioxide removed each year by the middle of the century. Today the world removes about two billion tonnes a year, almost all through forests and land.
Why start now if the need is decades away?
Because industries take decades to grow. The novel methods that store carbon most durably remove about two million tonnes a year, according to the 2026 edition of the same report. Growing from millions of tonnes to billions means building plants, supply chains, storage sites and skilled teams, and learning to bring costs down along the way. Every industry that reached that scale did so over decades, and the first plants are the ones that teach the rest how.
What is holding carbon removal back?
Mostly money for building. Offtakers are now signing contracts for future removal, but a contract to pay later does not pay for a plant today. Turning those promises into finance for construction is one of the main bottlenecks, and the next pages explain why.
Where MOTHER Carbon fits
MOTHER Carbon exists to close that gap: to bring tomorrow's climate payments into the present, so the projects that deliver them can be built today.
For project builders
Is your project ready to finance?
Eight questions, one for each thing a lender will ask. The check takes two minutes, and our team can take it from there.