Nordea has announced a significant agreement for carbon removal with Inherit Carbon Solutions, a Norwegian company. The multi-year contract involves capturing and permanently storing at least 68,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Peter Sandahl, Head of Climate & Environment at Nordea, stated, "This agreement is a milestone in Nordea’s new carbon removal strategy and reflects our ambition to support the scaling of high-quality carbon removal technologies."
Carbon removal technologies are crucial for maintaining global warming within the limits set by the Paris Agreement. Current actions aim to foster innovation and increase capacity in these technologies to achieve economies of scale in the future.
Nordea is committed to reducing emissions from its operations as rapidly as possible. By the end of 2024, it had cut emissions by 53% compared to 2019 levels. The bank aims for a positive carbon contribution by 2030, meaning its carbon removal credits will surpass its unabated emissions.
As part of its strategy, Nordea plans to collaborate with companies developing carbon removal projects and establish a portfolio focusing on Nordic projects. For its first project, it has partnered with Inherit Carbon Solutions to remove at least 68,000 tonnes of CO2.
Inherit's technology captures CO2 from a biogas plant in Denmark using agricultural organic waste. The captured CO2 is liquified and stored under the North Sea through bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). This project will start generating carbon removal credits in 2026 and marks one of the first BECCS plants in the Nordic region.
Peter Sandahl expressed enthusiasm about this collaboration: “We look forward to working on this exciting project with Inherit... Through this commitment we are accelerating our operational sustainability efforts.”
Kaja Voss, Co-CEO of Inherit, shared similar sentiments: “We are excited to partner with Nordea on this groundbreaking project... Together, we’re taking an important step towards a net zero future.”