Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Carbon capture and climate intervention · Iceland · 2021–2025

Climeworks' Iceland plants captured less CO2 than their stated capacity

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

Climeworks' Orca and Mammoth direct air capture plants in Iceland captured less CO2 than their stated capacity, according to Icelandic outlet Heimildin. The company blamed commissioning delays and cut 106 jobs in May 2025.

What?
The Orca and Mammoth plants in Iceland captured less CO2 than their stated capacity, according to Heimildin's reporting. The Chemical Engineer
Where?
Iceland The Chemical Engineer
When?
Orca has operated since 2021; the reported figures run to May 2025 The Chemical Engineer
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Climeworks employees — 106 jobs cut in May 2025 Swissinfo (SRF)
  • Workers for a planned Louisiana facility — 469 promised jobs suspended Swissinfo (SRF)
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The company blamed commissioning delays and snow and ice freezing its mechanisms. Swissinfo (SRF)
How?
Direct air capture: CO2 is taken from ambient air, per the sources' description of the method.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Heimildin reported in May 2025 that the Orca plant captured less than 1,000 tonnes a year since 2021, against a stated capacity of 4,000 tonnes.

Heimildin reported that Mammoth captured 750 tonnes in its first ten months, against a stated capacity of 36,000 tonnes a year.

The company said results were below expectations because of commissioning delays, and that snow and ice had frozen some of its mechanisms.

Heimildin compared the company's 1,700 tonnes of 2023 emissions with about 2,400 carbon units captured in Iceland since 2021, according to El Salto.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Climeworks raised $650 million in 2022 and $162 million in 2025, passing $1 billion in total.
    • Disputed Other reports put Mammoth's first-year capture at 105 tonnes, which conflicts with the 750 tonnes in ten months reported by Heimildin.
    • None on record Heimildin's figures are in 'carbon units', which the sources do not convert to tonnes, so the comparison with the company's emissions cannot be checked.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give a full year of verified capture figures.
    • None on record Effects on Icelandic communities or ecosystems are not reported in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

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    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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