Direct air capture and other high-quality carbon removal methods are essential in an economy that aims to fix the damage already made to the environment. Climeworks is pushing hard to supercharge the carbon removal sector.
The company launched on June 14th its first-ever “Industry Snapshot Report” – a comprehensive overview of the most recent developments in direct air capture.
Relevant: Climeworks’ Annual Direct Air Capture Summit To Be Held In June
The report is free to download and includes statements made by scientists, policy experts, and field actors on essential topics in the carbon removal space like investing in direct air capture, the outlook of global policies, and how to ensure the sustainability of climate technology.
It features expert contributors: Sabine Fuss (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons & Climate Change), Giana Amador (Carbon180), Julio Friedmann (Carbon Direct), Anna Dubowik (Negative Emissions Platform), Mark Preston Aragonès (Bellona), Eve Tamme (Climate Principles), Ryan Hanna (University of California, San Diego), Nili Gilbert (Carbon Direct), Sarah Deutz (RWTH Aachen University) and Tom Spencer (Swiss Re).
Mark Preston Aragonès, a Policy Manager from Bellona is opening a heated discussion on carbon offsets and their true contribution to climate change mitigation. According to him, offsets can be a useful way to provide finance to climate mitigation activities that would otherwise not be viable.
Relevant: Climeworks To Help Boom Supersonic Reach Net-Zero By 2025 With New Agreement
However, in real life, these offsets get in the way of real climate action. As they are low quality and therefore, very cheap, companies often choose to purchase a portfolio of ineffective and low price solutions rather than take a bigger step and invest in high-quality carbon removals or even better invest in ways that prevent them to emit CO2 in the first place.
That loophole in the decarbonization industry is opening the door to inefficiency and stands in the way of scaling the technologies that offer viable ways of reducing emissions. They are also the ones with a higher price tag but most often achieve the desired outcome.
Climeworks industry overview offers valuable information on the latest trends, insights, and developments in the direct air capture space.
Taking from the start of the report, a quote from IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee says that the world is at a crossroads and decisions made today can secure a liveable future and bear their fruits years from now. Fortunately, society has the tools and know-how required to limit warming.
