The United Kingdom’s Oxfordshire County Council has become the country’s first local authority to expand its emissions tackling efforts beyond net-zero targets by venturing into carbon dioxide removal (CDR).
The announcement came this week, after the council shaped its climate strategy led by advice from Prof. Steve Smith, Arnell Associate Professor of Greenhouse Gas Removal at the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment.
With this newly adopted broader decarbonization approach, the council’s cabinet will follow recommendations for accelerating the scale-up of the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) market through its policymaking and partnership activities.
When collaborating with partners, the institution will focus on identifying pathways in which this initiative can introduce benefits for rural economies, navigating them through the adjustment to a changing climate scene.
Oxfordshire has outlined three CO2-curbing methods that would be most suitable to the region’s terrain.
The first one is afforestation and reforestation, encompassing the planting of new trees and restoring existing forests to optimize their ability for carbon dioxide absorption.
Biochar is the second technology that could be applied in the local area, where it would improve the soil’s potential for carbon dioxide storage while at the same time boosting its fertility and resilience to extreme weather conditions.
Lastly, Oxfordshire has the potential to adopt soil carbon sequestration practices, like no-till farming.
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Councillor Dr. Pete Sudbury, Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment, and Future Generations, commented, “The uncomfortable reality is that negative emissions – actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – are the last throw of the dice, as we struggle to control the escalating damage from extreme weather, but the supply chains aren’t growing nearly fast enough.”
He pointed out that aggressive action to end the burning of fossil fuels should be coupled with building those carbon removal supply chains in time, and, according to him, starting now with small investments will make a big difference in the next 10 years.
Read more: UK Proposes Including Carbon Removal In ETS
