The Netherlands has launched a new public funding initiative aimed at accelerating carbon removal technologies, signalling a stronger policy push toward negative emissions as part of its long-term climate strategy. The programme is being rolled out by the Dutch government’s Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) under the MOOI: Koolstofverwijdering scheme, with a total budget of €10 million, equivalent to approximately $11.5 million.

The scheme is designed to support collaborative research and development projects that focus on capturing, storing, or permanently removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, moving innovations closer to real-world deployment.

Focus on Scalable Carbon Removal Technologies

Under the new programme, individual projects may receive grants of up to €4 million, provided they demonstrate a credible pathway to large-scale deployment within a ten-year timeframe. Eligible technologies include direct air capture, biomass-based carbon capture systems, geological storage solutions, and methods that embed CO₂ into long-lived materials and products.

Applications will be open between March 17 and April 16, 2026. To qualify, proposals must be submitted by consortia involving at least three partners, which can include private companies, research institutions, and local or regional authorities. The requirement for multi-party collaboration reflects the government’s emphasis on combining technical innovation with policy, infrastructure, and market readiness.

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Carbon Removal as a Strategic Climate Pillar

The initiative highlights a growing recognition within Dutch climate policy that emissions reductions alone will not be sufficient to meet long-term climate goals. Carbon removal technologies are increasingly seen as essential for addressing residual emissions from hard-to-abate sectors and for achieving net-zero and net-negative targets over time.

The MOOI scheme sits alongside RVO’s broader Innovatieprogramma Koolstofverwijdering, which provides additional support through knowledge sharing, sector coordination, and innovation networks, helping to build a more cohesive carbon removal ecosystem across the Netherlands.

Existing Momentum in the Dutch Carbon Removal Ecosystem

The Netherlands already hosts several high-profile carbon removal ventures that illustrate the type of innovation the programme aims to support. Climate technology company Paebbl, which focuses on mineralising captured carbon into stable materials, recently secured €4 million in EU funding to advance its technology.

Direct air capture specialist Carbyon has also received multiple national grants to scale its modular capture systems, targeting lower-cost atmospheric CO₂ removal for use in fuels and chemical production.

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From Pilot Projects to Deployment

By tying public funding to collaboration and deployment timelines, the Dutch government is seeking to move carbon removal beyond laboratory research and into practical climate infrastructure. As European climate policy increasingly turns toward negative emissions, the Netherlands’ approach positions carbon removal not as a future contingency, but as an investment priority for the coming decade.

The programme reinforces the country’s ambition to play a leading role in the development, testing, and eventual scaling of carbon removal technologies within Europe’s broader net-zero transition.

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