Why Swiss Carbon-Removal Start-Up Climeworks Faces Serious Headwinds

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Climeworks, a Swiss start-up that specialises in sucking carbon out of the air, says it must cut 20% of its global workforce to stay competitive. Why is the“direct-air-capture” (DAC) pioneer taking such a drastic step even as the technology remains essential to addressing climate change? This content was published on May 22, 2025 - 10:19 10 minutes

I am a climate and science/technology reporter. I am interested in the effects of climate change on everyday life and scientific solutions. Born in London, I am a dual citizen of Switzerland and the UK. After studying modern languages and translation, I trained as a journalist and joined swissinfo in 2006. My working languages are English, German, French and Spanish.

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Why is Climeworks in the headlines?

The company confirmedExternal link on Wednesday it will slash 106 of 498 jobs – 78 in Switzerland – to compete in the“challenging” DAC sector.

“After a phase of strong growth, Climeworks is proactively adapting its organisation to maintain agility and efficiency,” the Zurich-based start-up said in a statement.

Despite this major setback, the carbon removal firm says it remains firmly focused on the long term.

“Today, Climeworks is positioned well technologically and commercially. Climeworks will continue to take its core technology to the next level and will further diversify its commercial offering to broaden its market impact and to solidify its position as the undisputed CO2 removal leader,” it added.

The downsizing came one week after journalists in Iceland revealedExternal link that the company's two flagship plants have underperformed. Climeworks says the job cuts are unrelated.

Why is Climeworks downsizing?

The start-up operates two DAC plants in Iceland (Orca and Mammoth) and plans a third (Cypress) in Louisiana, US. It says the job cuts reflect economic uncertainty and slower momentum in climate technology.

Climeworks says the downsizing has been influenced by uncertainty about the new plant and expansion plans in the US, where President Donald Trump has gutted federal climate efforts, rolled back regulations at limiting pollution and pushed to scrap incentives for clean energy projectsExternal link . Carbon capture technologies have so far not faced similar scrutiny from Trump, but uncertainty prevails. Climeworks CEO Jan Wurzbacher told SWI swissinfo in a recent interview that his company“does not know at this stage” what impacts his presidency could have on business.

>> Our recent interview with Climeworks CEO Jan Wurzbacher.

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