For FY25, appropriations should target foundational investments in infrastructure and MRV

After an unusually prolonged process, funding amounts and bill text for fiscal year 2024 (FY24) appropriations have been set — and now we’re moving right along to FY25. Each appropriations cycle, Carbon180 evaluates where the federal government can step in to provide much-needed resources across agencies. Below is an overview of the appropriations requests we submitted for FY25, showing where we think federal dollars and programmatic support can go farthest in the next fiscal year.

First, a quick refresher on the appropriations process

To kick everything off, the president releases a budget proposal (usually in late winter), which signals the administration’s priorities. The House and Senate appropriations committees meet to draft funding levels and report language, using the President’s Budget Request as a jumping off point. From there, they conference into a joint committee to negotiate and determine a final proposal, which is then voted on by both chambers and signed by the president. 

What’s in the President’s Budget Request this year?

In early March, President Biden released his FY25 budget proposal. Below we’ve compared what was enacted in FY24 to his FY25 requests for carbon removal.

President Biden is requesting a 20% budget increase for the Carbon Dioxide Removal Crosscut program at the Department of Energy (DOE) and a 5.2% increase for the Forest and Rangeland program at the Forest Service compared to last year’s final funding package. The President’s budget indicates continued support for carbon removal, but we still need additional funding and guidance to move the US closer to removing carbon at scale. 

Here’s what Carbon180 is requesting for FY25 

There are myriad opportunities to strengthen existing programs and add new dollars to support the research and accountability measures needed for responsible innovation and actualizing our lands as a carbon sink. Below is an overview of our recommendations for how FY25 funding can help us do it. Quick note: These requests include specific dollar amounts as well as report language, which directs programs and offices to invest various resources into certain areas.

(Love this stuff? Our full requests can be found here and visualized in our funding tracker.)

Technology

Within the past five years, the number of bills introduced to foster funding for tech-based carbon removal research, development, and demonstrations (RD&D) has increased significantly, from the CHIPS and Science Act to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to most recently the Carbon Dioxide Removal Research and Development Act of 2023. We should continue this momentum, ensuring appropriations funding goes towards projects that demonstrate commercial deployment of CDR, verifiable removals, and meaningful social benefits. To that end, Carbon180 requests:

• $353M to support funding for CDR RD&D for a diverse suite of carbon dioxide removal technologies and approaches at DOE.
  • $30M to support the CDR Purchase Pilot Prize, a technology-inclusive federal prize program able to accelerate private sector innovation across CDR pathways.
• Report language to bolster DOE’s efforts to improve measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) tools and evaluation frameworks. Such investments are pivotal to unlocking the full potential and expansion of the CDR Pilot Prize, future CDR offtake agreements, and other large-scale federal incentives. Furthermore, reliable and comparable evaluation tools provide stakeholders, including investors and policymakers, with verifiable data to assess the effectiveness of CDR initiatives — instilling confidence in the reliability and impact of such projects. 

Agriculture

Carbon180 recently worked with Congress to introduce two bipartisan soil carbon research bills — the Advancing Research in Agricultural Climate Impacts Act and the Improved Coordination for Soil Carbon Research and Monitoring Act — that are reflected in our FY25 appropriations requests. We strongly believe that coordinating and enhancing federal soil carbon research is key to actualizing agricultural lands’ potential as a major carbon sink. Our FY25 requests are: 

• $1.88B for the Agricultural Research Service overall, including robust funding for the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network, and Climate Hubs programs. Increased funding for R&D of regionally-specific soil carbon practices and research projects, as well as soil carbon measurement tools, data collection, and management.
• For the Office of the Secretary, report language to direct the creation of an interagency Soil Carbon Research Committee to coordinate and advance soil carbon research, development, and deployment across the federal government. 
• Report language calling for a systematic review of soil carbon monitoring methodologies to develop a standardized methodology as part of the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) newly released commitment to establish a Soil Carbon Monitoring Network.

Forestry

Forest ecosystems play a powerful role in climate mitigation, and forest restoration and management is necessary to scale carbon removal. To protect our forests, we need to ensure that federal forest programs are appropriately equipped and funded. Our forestry requests include: 

• $315M, in line with the President’s FY25 budget, to fund the Forest and Rangeland Research program including:
  • $33M for the Forest Inventory and Analysis program to improve the quality of scientific data and methods that guide land management practices across the US. 
  • $3M for the National Agroforestry Center to advance agroforestry through on-the-ground research, technical assistance, and demonstration projects.
• Report language to dedicate funding for the Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources program to hire full-time staff, expand technical assistance, and increase R&D to address the national seedling shortage. 
• Report language to improve technical assistance and project support for the Urban and Community Forestry program to advance underserved community forest land across the US. 

Oceans

The ocean is the largest carbon sink on the planet, and leveraging the ocean for carbon removal has the potential to enable large-scale CDR. To explore the potential of ocean carbon removal in a responsible way, we need to provide funding for R&D to ascertain CDR efficacy and ecosystem impacts, and to develop governance and regulatory frameworks that safeguard communities and the environment. We request:

• $25M for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support research and development of diverse ocean-based carbon dioxide removal approaches and technologies to better understand their efficacy and impacts, support the adoption of a research code of conduct, and support transparent and timely sharing of research data. 

A look ahead

Congressional members have until the end of the month to submit their own appropriations requests to the committee advocating for programs that benefit the US, their state, and their constituents. Throughout April, Carbon180 will continue to submit appropriations request forms to Congressional offices and begin meeting with appropriations subcommittee members about these requests. We’ll also be collaborating with partners to demonstrate widespread support and continuously working to ensure FY25 appropriations are high impact for carbon removal. 

Edited by Emily Reich. Image by Marcin Jozwiak.