Greetings NCEC members, 

Our monthly feature is Rocky Mountain Institute. Please see the attachment or click HERE to read Can Carbon Become a Resource, Not a Waste? Spotlighting Rocky Mountain Institute’s Vision for a New Carbon Economy. The global energy transition needs more than just replacing fossil fuels with renewables. It requires a deliberate, systems-level reimagining of the entire process: how carbon is sourced, managed, utilized and stored. Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a leading independent nonprofit Special thanks to Tessa Weiss, Manager in RMI’s Climate-Aligned Industries Program, to explore how this vision translates from form into practice. 

Also find attached Cadmus Promoting Leadership in Thought that Leads to Action: Beyond 2030: The Transition to Abundance Needs Managing A Policy Paper prepared for the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General. 

We’re very excited to host NCEC Advisory Board Members Jens Nielsen and  Jan Huckfeldt and NCEC Co-Chair Erin Burns on Sept 15-16 at ASU for our Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory (GFL) events with Laura Turner Seydel and Vasser Seydel. ASU GFL will be hosting a Wrigley Conversation and Groundswell Phoenix film premiere. There will be great discussions on soil-based carbon sequestration, and we’ll report out in the next newsletter. If you are in the area and can make it, please reach out and let us know. 

NCEC Updates:

Join us in Istanbul for the NCEC 2026 Annual Meeting! It will be held on 4-6 November at Istinye University in Istanbul, Turkey, just before COP31. 

REGISTER HERE.  

With special guests:

• Phoebe Koundouri, globally renowned mathematical economist who has pioneered human-centered, interdisciplinary modeling systems for sustainable interaction between nature, society, and the economy. She is currently Professor at the School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). 

• Klaus Lackner, Emeritus Professor, Arizona State University, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and “Grandfather” of Direct Air Capture (DAC). 

Agenda, Transportation, Visa, and Accommodation info HERE. 

Speaker slots are filling up, so please Register to reserve your slot. 

The New Carbon Economy Consortium (NCEC), a collaboration of leading universities, national labs, financiers, NGOs, and industry partners advancing a carbon‑conscious future, will convene its 2026 Annual Meeting to accelerate pathways for large‑scale carbon removal deployment and a just transition toward a negative‑emissions economy.

External Network Updates:  

• UNEP:  World set to cross 1.5° global warming, but can still limit, adapt to and return from higher temperatures. HERE

• Member University of Istinye: The New Carbon Economy AI Hackathon 2026 is open to undergraduate students, researchers, and interdisciplinary teams interested in developing innovative solutions in the fields of clean energy and energy efficiency, circular economy, sustainable mobility, green communities and social innovation, and the new carbon economy. Applications will be accepted until 11 September 2026, and participants are required to apply in teams consisting of 3–5 members. HERE 

• Member ASU: Dr. Arcusa explores how Four Corners states can support carbon management. Stephanie Arcusa is lead author in new publication in the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. The study examines whether policies in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah can support the long-term diffusion of carbon disposal technologies. The study finds that deployment is supported, but sustained financing and accountability remain gaps. HERE 

• Member RMI: New opportunities for CDR integration RMI’s new report details the conditions necessary for mining to deliver over 1 billion tons of annual CO₂ removal, while boosting mine safety, productivity, and profits. HERE 

• Member Terraformation: Join NYCW event Reforest the Future. Reforest the Future unites stakeholders in reforestation to share lessons, explore perspectives and shape what’s next. Sept 22 HERE 

• Member Carbon180: Join NYCW event Moving at the Speed of Trust: How to move on climate without leaving communities or ecosystems behind. Sept 22 HERE 

• Member The Academy: The Institute is excited to launch its inaugural Carbon Management Emerging Talent Program, supporting our commitment to growing capability and opportunities across the carbon management sector. The program provides upcoming and early career professionals with hands-on and meaningful experience across a range of disciplines, including technical research, policy, advocacy, communications, and events management. We welcome applications from currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, as well as early career professionals, worldwide. HERE 

• Member ASU in Environmental Science and Technology: Moisture-Driven CO2 Direct Air Capture and Delivery for Cultivating Cyanobacteria. HERE 

• Phys.org A research team published a breakthrough study developing a technology that converts dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater into stable calcium carbonate mineral form for permanent storage. Using an electrochemical system with hollow fiber electrodes and hydrogen-bubble cleaning, the team overcame the critical challenge of electrode mineral scaling that has limited previous ocean carbon mineralisation approaches. The technology represents a novel pathway for direct ocean carbon capture with permanent geological-timescale storage potential.  HERE 

• Partner IUCA- ATTEND virtual Join ClimateIQ: Policymakers Edition:  Sept. 28–Oct. 2: This global online program connects policymakers with leading climate experts to explore evidence and practical approaches to climate decision-making. Researchers, practitioners and higher education professionals are also welcome.

• Nature published a landmark study simulating 60 years of ocean iron fertilisation across ten ocean regions. Researchers confirmed that iron fertilisation can result in meaningful carbon export and identified the Pacific and Southern Oceans as the most efficient areas for marine carbon removal. The study also documented ecological trade-offs including algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and nutrient depletion in adjacent regions, providing the most comprehensive assessment yet of both the potential and the risks of ocean-based CDR at scale. HERE 

• Carbon Herald The first payments under the Grassland Restoration and Stewardship in South Africa Group Project (GRASS GP) were disbursed in August 2026, marking one of the first community-level carbon payment events under a verified nature-based CDR project in sub-Saharan Africa. The project represents a growing model of community benefit sharing in carbon markets, directly relevant to calls from the Global South CDR Coalition for international carbon finance to reach frontline communities rather than intermediaries.  HERE 

• Carbon Herald Google launched the 2026 Carbon Removal and Superpollutant Elimination R&D Awards, offering over $6 million in grants with individual awards of up to $450,000. The programme targets critical scientific bottlenecks to unlock carbon removal at gigaton scale and superpollutant abatement at megaton scale. Applications are open to researchers and organisations worldwide. HERE 

• Partner IUCA- Webinar IUCA September Global Dialogue | Living Labs as Climate Policy Accelerators: How universities are co-creating climate solutions that inform policy and strengthen communities. Sept 10 HERE 

• TechCabal Zambia launched a fully operational national carbon registry on August 7, 2026, becoming the second African country after Ghana to combine live registry infrastructure with a signed bilateral agreement and a completed transaction. The Zambia Carbon Registry is integrated with the country's monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system and designed to prevent double counting of emissions reductions. Developed with support from the SPAR6C programme, the registry is already anchored by a live transaction: in January 2026, Zambia signed a Mitigation Outcome Purchase Agreement with Norway under the Carbon Feed-in Premium programme. UNEP described Zambia as among the first countries globally to build a fully customised digital registry for Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.  HERE 

• Climeworks Solutions  published a landmark whitepaper on August 26, 2026, calling for carbon removal to be integrated into AI infrastructure development, financing, and procurement decisions. The whitepaper sets out four practical approaches for data center developers, hyperscalers, utilities, investors, and contractors to incorporate carbon removal before it becomes an afterthought. The announcement came ahead of Climate Week NYC 2026, where Climeworks Solutions will convene representatives from across the AI infrastructure value chain. HERE 

• Globe Newswire: Stanford University spinout Mafix raised .4 million in pre-seed funding led by Azolla Ventures to commercialise a silicate mineral product that removes CO2 while acting as a crop fertiliser. Directly related to the enhanced rock weathering technology pioneered by companies like Terradot, Mafix uses cement kilns to heat silicate minerals, producing a fast-weathering material that dissolves within a single growing season rather than over years. The approach dramatically reduces MRV costs and enables farmers to receive payment faster. The funding will support production of approximately 1,000 tonnes of silicon fertilizer for large-scale agricultural trials, with carbon credits expected to fund the business initially at prices of 200 to 500 per tonne of CO2 removed. HERE 

• Carbon Brief: Does the world need ‘Carbon Capture and Storage’ to reach net-zero? HERE 

• Brookings: What is carbon dioxide removal and capture in the context of climate change? Commentary with Daniel Richter, Riki Fujii-Rajani, Eli Schrag, Sanjay Patnaik, and Aidan T. Kane. HERE