Our mission is to introduce you to what is happening in the world of carbon removals – the science, the technology, the people, places, motivations and approaches that are driving the evolution of carbon removals today and working to scale these innovations for a better future tomorrow.
CARBON REMOVALS AT COP PRINCIPLES:
OUR WORK IS GROUNDED IN 4 PRINCIPLES:
Reductions and Removals: We need both.
The science is clear. We need carbon removals as well as deep emissions reductions and adaptation to tackle global warming. There is no net zero without carbon removals. Decarbonization can (and should) get us most of the way to zero – but we need removals for the emissions we’re not able to eliminate. We need to decarbonize as fast as possible and use removals to have any hope of avoiding climate catastrophe. It’s no longer a choice.
Never an excuse
Carbon removals cannot be an excuse for business as usual in fossil fuels, or to delay reducing emissions. We cannot tackle climate change if we keep burning fossil fuels, period. Even if we ramped removals up to the maximum extent, it would be impossible to produce enough to compensate for continued fossil fuel use. Carbon removals must be additive to decarbonization efforts, with separate targets for reductions and removals that get us to net zero – without excuses.
Now, not later
The window of opportunity is closing – we need to scale carbon removal over this decade so it is available when we need it. Removals are like a pension: we need to grow them now so we can “withdraw” later. But there is a huge mismatch between the identified need and the current scale of efforts. Scientists believe we’ll need at least 5 billion tonnes of removals by 2050. Today, we’re only able to deliver 0.002% of that. We need to get to work now if we are to succeed.
Local leadership, global impact
Carbon removals can be done anywhere, by anyone, but have a global impact. The community is vibrant and growing fast: it includes Global South climate activists, creative policy-makers, pioneering mayors, tech companies, carbon market developers and leaders in hard-to-abate industries. We are all working to identify new solutions and ways of rewiring the global economy to limit temperature rise and preserve a stable planet for our collective future.
Our Coalition:
CARBON REMOVALS AT COP is a collaborative global coalition composed of NGOs from across the carbon removal ecosystem. All funding comes exclusively from philanthropic climate foundations.
