A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP

The global CDR Action Network (CDRANet, pronounced see-drah-net) is new partnership between countries, industries and institutions who are working together to create workable global policy for removing carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere at scale. This network is unique and vital in five key respects:

  1. CDRANet is focused on CO2 removal. There are many important tangents, like the underground storage of industrial emissions, and the need to address other GHGs like methane, but we are focused on carbon dioxide so we can connect the dots of the CDR ecosystem in the most powerful way possible.
  2. This network is action focused. Our goal isn’t to generate endless debate, but action — a workable, global approach to scaling CDR now. All aspects of this issue are being addressed — environmental, technical, financial, social, moral-ethical, sustainability, and other vital considerations.
  3. We are global. Every country has their own ideas and priorities, but atmospheric CO2 removal is going to require global cooperation and collaboration. This network brings together a wide range of global actors who are willing to work together now on creating a realistic, global solutions.
  4. We are empowered for action. Network delegates are high level representatives of their countries and institutions, in positions of authority to develop policy and not only debate details. And finally,
  5. Our work is ongoing. Our work has just started and we will contiue growing and building connections. The conferences we are organizing (beginning with CDR26 in October of 2026), will serve as annual showcases for global policy and technical progress in CDR.

OVERSIGHT

CDRANet is managed by the Science Communication Institute (SCI), a US-based 501c3 nonprofit public charity. SCI has extensive experience in international science communication diplomacy, having led the global Open Scholarship Initiative (OSI) alongside UNESCO from 2015-2024. Several oversight and working groups also exist within CDRANet.

process

CDRANet’s work is centered around helping stakeholders succeed by:

  • Converging expertise across disciplines, countries, and sectors
  • Clarifying the policy landscape through the creation of shared frameworks
  • Supporting alignment through coordinated dialogue, and
  • Accelerating action by connecting actors ready to lead and learn together.

SCIENCE-BUILT, DIPLOMACY-LED CIVIC ACTION

CDRANet’s approach aims for immediate and realistic progress on CDR policy through science-built civic action instead of relying on formal diplomatic channels that have not moved with nearly enough speed. There is extensive historical precedent for efforts like this, where scientists, nonprofits, trade groups, and/or businesses work together through diplomatic means to establish new paradigms in human rights, medical research, technology standards, and more. For example, the 1964 Helsinki Declaration, adopted by the World Medical Association—a non-governmental organization representing physicians worldwide—was a landmark document that established a set of ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. This declaration was a crucial milestone in the history of research ethics. CDRANet’s work is along these same lines—a global, multistakeholder effort that codifies a new understanding for where we’re going with CDR, pulling together the advice of all civil society stakeholders and tying this into the policy work of interested businesses and governments.

Also like Helsinki, CDRANet’s Athens Declaration and Policy Framework is a living agreement—not a static declaration, but an adaptable, evolving action plan that ties together other climate policies, fills in gaps, shares data and best practices, maps out in broad strokes what governments should do to help CDR develop, and continuously tracks and shares progress and evolves recommendations over time.

CDRANet will continually engage with the global stakeholder community to enhance this framework, integrate it into existing policies, pilot policies, and work to ensure that we continue to push forward action as a connected network. We’re addressing an urgent global crisis, and we need an agency that can apply continual attention to and pressure on the need to design and carry out practical, sustainable solutions.

CURRENT priorities

  1. ✅Manage the Vancouver Transition Committee (VTC) process: The VTC is small group of leaders representing government environment ministries (or their CDR equivalent), IGOs, the CDR industry, and climate research and policy, who will advise on how to transition the Vancouver Declaration into functioning international policy. Meetings of the VTC group will take place in September, October and November 2025.
  2. Expand outreach and engagement: Beginning in early 2026, CDRANet will begin expanding to include more countries and institutions.
  3. Sign and launch the Vancouver Declaration: In October 2026, CDRANet will convene a capstone conference (CDR26) to formally launch the Vancouver Declaration as a global policy platform. This event will mark the transition from momentum-building to full-scale mobilization.
  4. Pursue sub-initiatives like the West Coast CDR Compact

INTO THE FUTURE

CDRANet is currently focused on signing and deploying the Vancouver Declaration, and planning the CDR26 conference where the Declaration will be signed (October 20-21, 2026). But we’re also looking beyond CDR26. What will be the best way to continue this momentum long-term?

The world needs to make steady progress toward scaling CDR to the 10 gigaton/year level. We won’t get there in fits and starts by signing a declaration here and holding a conference there, or by relying solely and forever on the good will and energy of a largely disconnected constellation of policy experts, researchers, industry specialists, philanthropies, and UN-sanctioned initiatives. We need more unifying glue to connect these efforts and give everyone a common framework for action.

The Vancouver Declaration and CDR26 are a valuable start in this regard. However, the long-term management of declaration-related efforts (including CDR26 and future meetings) may require creating a new organizing body. Should this body be an expanded and fully-staffed CDRANet? Or a different existing organization? Or should Vancouver signatories create an entirely new IGO?

Whatever the solution, there is a clear need to unite around a common purpose, without reinventing the wheel or displacing existing initiatives and expertise. The CDR ecosystem already includes a rich mix of policy analysts, researchers, market experts, investors, and government specialists. The highest and best purpose of any unifying body, therefore, is not to duplicate this work, but to help make the system more than the sum of its parts.

There is also a pressing need to mobilize and coordinate government action. To date, CDR policy has focused heavily on market development, while paying comparatively little attention to building global capacity for government leadership, collaboration, and coordinated action. This has been a strategic oversight. Historically, governments have played an indispensable role in creating and scaling the infrastructure that underpins modern society—from electric grids and transportation networks to telecommunications and public health systems. The lesson is simple but consequential: markets and innovation matter, but achieving scale has always required sustained government involvement.

The same will be true for carbon dioxide removal. Moving from pilot projects to gigaton-scale deployment will demand active government leadership. The Vancouver Declaration is distinctive in this regard. It provides a shared platform through which governments can engage more effectively in CDR information-sharing, coordination, and capacity-building. This may well be its greatest value added to the global effort to scale carbon dioxide removal.