Barclays Signs Its First Carbon Removal Deal To Capture CO2 In Crushed Rocks And Soil

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW)-focused carbon removal project developer UNDO announced that it has signed a new agreement with UK-based bank Barclays to permanently remove more than 6,500 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere using an accelerated process involving rocks and soil.

The new deal marks Barclays’ first-ever carbon removal agreement, coming after the bank recently revealed that it has reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 95% as of the end of 2024. Barclays has set a goal to be a net zero bank by 2050, with the bank noting that its strategy is primarily focused on decarbonizing the most emissions-intensive areas of its operations.

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Daniel Hanna, Global Head of Sustainable and Transition Finance at Barclays, said:

“Having reduced our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 95%, we are complementing our core net zero operations strategy by investing in permanent carbon removal. UNDO’s approach to enhanced rock weathering offers the potential for a scalable solution to permanent carbon removal, which is pioneering, and one we’re proud to support through this landmark offtake.”

Founded in 2022, London-based UNDO develops carbon removal projects based on enhanced rock weathering. The company’s technology accelerates the natural geological process of weathering by spreading crushed silicate rock onto agricultural land, where plants and microbes in the soil speed up the weathering process, removing CO2, while simultaneously enriching soil with essential nutrients.

The company was recently announced as a $5 million winner in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, aimed at catalyzing gigaton-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions.

Under the new agreement, UNDO will spread finely crushed silicate rock across 10,000 acres of farmland as part of its project in Ontario, Canada, with the rock capturing and storing CO2 in rainwater and soil as it naturally weathers, which is ultimately transported to the oceans where it is stored for hundreds of thousands of years.

Jim Mann, Founder and CEO of UNDO, said:

“This offtake is a powerful vote of confidence in UNDO’s ability to scale rapidly. With the backing of forward-thinking organisations like Barclays, we are expanding enhanced rock weathering across farming communities, delivering measurable co-benefits such as stronger soils, healthier crops and higher yields. This landmark partnership validates the expansion of one of the most impactful carbon removal solutions available today.”