WHAT ABOUT CARBON REMOVAL? Climate solution or corporate distraction?

WHAT ABOUT CARBON REMOVAL? Climate solution or corporate distraction?

From Fossil vs Future by James Cameron and Daisy Nicholls

April 28, 2026 · 41 min · Episode 40

About this episode

James and Daisy discuss carbon dioxide removal as a potential solution to climate change and its implications.

To mitigate climate change, we must reduce new emissions. But what about the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere? And what about the emissions that we can’t easily reduce with existing technologies? In this episode, James and Daisy discuss carbon dioxide removal (CDR). How is it done? What does it cost? And do we really need it? SOME RECOMMENDATIONS: The State of CDR – Reports on the state of progress. Nearly 2.1 billion tonnes of CO₂ are already being removed annually, but around 7–9 billion tonnes are needed by mid-century. CDR.fyi – Provides trusted insights and analytics on durable CDR orders, projects, and financings across the carbon removal market. Counteract – Backs early-stage founders fostering innovation in carbon removal. OTHER ADVOCATES AND RESOURCES: IPCC – CDR refers to technologies, practices, and approaches that remove and durably store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It only refers to human activities that intentionally remove CO2 (not natural CO2 removal such as natural forest growth). RMI (2023) – CDR approaches can be sorted into three categories: (1) Biogenic CDR (plants); (2) Geochemical CDR (minerals); and (3) Synthetic CDR (energy). WRI (2026)…

People in this episode

Hosts: James Cameron, Daisy Nicholls

Topics covered

  • carbon dioxide removal
  • climate change
  • greenhouse gases
  • emission reduction
  • sustainability

Keywords

  • carbon removal
  • CDR
  • climate solution
  • greenhouse gases
  • emissions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: IPCC, RMI, WRI, CDR.fyi, Counteract

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