Stakeholders from the CO2 removal sector in Italy are gearing up to introduce the country’s first dedicated carbon removals network.
The Rete Italiana Rimozione Carbonio (RIRC) network will operate with the aim of promoting the deployment, governance, and public understanding of carbon removal in Italy.
The RIRC is scheduled to hold its inaugural event on 14 April 2026 at the Scuola della Carità in Padova, where the network will be officially launched during the Padova Climate Action Week in collaboration with the Negative Emissions Platform (NEP).
Later this month, on April 20th, the network will be present at a second event in Rome, where Carbon Gap will release Italy’s first Carbon Removal Readiness Assessment Report, holding a roadmap workshop.
The launch of RIRC comes at a time when the EU is indicating bolder support for engineered and nature-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions through frameworks such as the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation.
As the RIRC prepares for its official roll-out, our team sat down for a chat with its co-founders, including Francesco Gagliano from 17tons, Riccardo Ambrosini from ecoLock, CarpeCarbon’s Chiara D’Adamo, and Martina Massei, who’s part of Carbon Gap and has been working on the CDR Readiness Assessment in Italy.
Talking about the motivation behind RIRC’s creation, Francesco Gagliano highlights Italy’s competitive strength and CDR potential, which are currently left without a coordinated body to drive focused advancement.
“If you look across Europe, France already has AFEN, Germany has the DVNE, and the Nordic countries coordinate through the NCRA. Italy doesn’t have an equivalent network, and there is no dedicated strategy, no industry body, no coordinated voice for CDR stakeholders,” he says.
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What the country does have, Gagliano stresses, are highly interested and engaged carbon removal players and world-class engineering and manufacturing capabilities, along with established agricultural supply chains, long coastlines, and significant geological storage potential.
Martina Massei underlines that the CDR Readiness Assessment Report, which will come out on April 20, confirms Italy’s assets in this area with concrete data. She’s part of the Carbon Gap team that has conducted CDR readiness analysis in Germany, Finland, Poland, Spain, and Italy.
What stood out in Italy’s case, Massei shares, is the abundance of natural resources, vast industrial capabilities, and more CDR-relevant advantages. Still, the country is currently marked in red on Carbon Gap’s policy tracker, which, according to her, can be explained by the lack of CDR strategy and synchronized efforts.
This is precisely the gap that the RIRC intends to fill. The network is envisioned to serve as a facilitator program, bringing together the supply and demand side of the CDR equation and aligning sector efforts with CDR policy.
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RIRC’s launch event on April 14 will feature a CDR introduction from Silvia Scozzafava, as well as a session on CDR market dynamics and policy, led by Sebastian Manhart. The event will also host a discussion panel moderated by Lucia Brusegan, where attendees will have a chance to hear from a number of Italian startups active in the CDR industry.
Parties interested in attending the RIRC inauguration event can register for it here.
