Responsible Direct Air Capture in East Africa: Creating Local Value through a Policy Roadmap from COP31 to COP32

What decisions must governments, national delegations, financiers, industrial buyers and carbon removal actors take now so that direct air capture supports local communities and national priorities while contributing to East Africa’s industrial development and climate goals? Kenya is emerging as an early test case for direct air capture in the region. Before COP31, Kenyan stakeholders will convene for the first National Dialogue on Early and Responsible Direct Air Capture Deployment in Kenya, bringing together government, researchers, industry, civil society and development partners. At COP31, this session will build on that dialogue by opening an East African conversation on whether, where and under what conditions direct air capture can create value for host countries. It will translate the lessons from Kenya into specific policy recommendations that other East African countries and national delegations can consider as they prepare their climate and industrial strategies. As global interest and investment in direct air capture grow, East African countries must shape how the sector develops before deployment reaches scale. Governments and national delegations should explicitly recognise responsible and durable carbon dioxide removal in their national climate strategies and NDCs and support its recognition in the COP31 official declaration. This policy signal is urgently needed to move the CDR market beyond isolated voluntary-market purchases and create credible long-term demand, governance and finance—while recognising that removals must complement, rather than replace, rapid emissions reductions. The session will advocate four practical actions: 1. Explicitly recognise responsible and durable removals in national climate strategies and NDCs 2. Establish environmental, social and local-value safeguards before projects reach scale 3. Build demand through public procurement, blended finance, advance market commitments and industrial partnerships 4. Invest in regional policy, scientific and implementation capacity ahead of COP32. Using Kenya as a practical case, participants will examine what needs to be true across technology, energy and resource use, finance, policy, industrial integration and benefits for local communities. For each area, participants will identify the decision required, the stakeholder responsible and the action that can be advanced before COP32. The discussion will consider how Kenya’s solar and geothermal resources could support low-cost capture, and how direct air capture could create local added value through technology development, manufacturing, skilled employment, knowledge creation and skills transfer. It will also explore opportunities to integrate captured carbon dioxide into wider industrial value chains, including carbon-negative materials such as cement and sustainable fuels, supporting local circular economies, sustainable urban transformation and industrial decarbonisation pathways for net-zero transformation. Particular attention will be given to financing, ownership and benefit-sharing models that avoid extractive climate finance and enable direct air capture to become a value-creating industry rather than merely producing carbon credits for international buyers.