GFI’s CDR Catalyst launches, unlocking £1m in first-of-its-kind UK biochar financing deal
The Green Finance Institute (GFI) has launched its Carbon Dioxide Removal Catalyst (CDR Catalyst), securing a £1 million financing agreement from Oxbury Bank to support a Cornwall-based biochar project developed by Restord. The deal marks the first transaction facilitated through the Catalyst and the first commercial loan of its kind for a UK biochar carbon removal company, signalling growing momentum in efforts to scale engineered carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies in the UK.
The Catalyst has been designed to help bridge the long-standing commercialisation gap in the UK carbon removal sector, where more than 100 project developers currently account for less than 1% of global carbon removal credits. By combining philanthropic risk capital, structured finance, and forward carbon credit purchases, the initiative aims to transition early-stage projects from grant dependence to bankable, revenue-generating operations.
The Restord deal brings together a blended financing structure, including a forward purchase of carbon credits supported by philanthropic partner Terraset, alongside project development partners The Green Waste Company and Woodtek Engineering, which will supply pyrolysis technology used to convert organic waste into biochar. Oxbury Bank’s £1 million loan will support the construction and deployment of the project infrastructure in Cornwall.
Once operational, the facility is expected to remove around 2,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually through the production and application of biochar, a process that permanently sequesters carbon while generating additional environmental co-benefits for soil health and agriculture.
The launch of the CDR Catalyst follows growing policy focus on engineered removals, including analysis from the UK Climate Change Committee’s Seventh Carbon Budget, which highlighted the need for financial mechanisms capable of mobilising large-scale private investment into carbon removal technologies.
According to GFI, the UK carbon removal sector continues to face structural barriers, including high capital costs, limited revenue certainty, and technology scale-up risks. While government proposals such as Carbon Contracts for Difference and the planned integration of CDR into the UK Emissions Trading Scheme by 2029 are expected to support future demand, early-stage financing remains a key constraint.
“This first-of-a-kind deal provides a strong proof point for our approach to scaling the UK’s CDR market by convening partners, accessing catalytic capital, and structuring transactions that reduce investment risk,” said Georgia Berry, CDR Director at the Green Finance Institute.
Restord said the financing represents a major step toward commercial-scale carbon removal deployment. “This financing enables us to remove circa 2,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year through high-quality biochar production,” said Tom Previte, Founder and CEO of Restord.
Oxbury Bank said the structure helped unlock confidence in a new asset class. “The CDR Catalyst helped give us the information and confidence needed to support this investment,” said Nick Evans, Co-founder and Managing Director at Oxbury.
GFI confirmed that the Catalyst will continue to support early-stage carbon removal projects across biochar, direct air capture, enhanced rock weathering, and carbon storage in construction materials, while also working with government and industry stakeholders to improve the enabling environment for high-integrity CDR markets in the UK.
