Swiss Re signs world’s first ten-year DAC contract with Climeworks

$10mn contract and strategic partnership aims to improve fundability of large-scale DAC

Reinsurance giant Swiss Re has signed the world’s first ten-year carbon removal contract worth $10mn with Swiss direct air capture (DAC) startup Climeworks. The companies will also collaborate on developing risk management and risk transfer solutions for DAC projects, which could accelerate the nascent sector’s commercialisation and growth. Climeworks’ technology dissolves CO₂ into water, which is then pumped underground, reacting with surrounding basalt rock to form carbonate minerals. However, this process costs “several hundred dollars” per tCO₂ removed, making it one of the more expensive carbon capture solutions, according to Swiss Re. The strategic partnership aims to improve the funda