A more precise definition for carbon removal and a more catalytic approach to supporting its growth

Episode 9 of The Carbon Curve is with Robert Höglund and Dr. Natalya Jarlebring from Milkywire’s Climate Transformation Fund.

Over the last year or so, interest in carbon removal (CDR) has taken off.

From the formation of new corporate buying coalitions, like Frontier, to large venture rounds, and ambitious new policies like Direct Air Capture Hubs, CDR is starting to hit an inflection point. All of this early traction is encouraging, but it also necessitates taking a step back, and reflecting on the carbon removal industry as it currently stands, and where it should go from here.

It requires revisiting questions that some of us working in the industry with all the recent activity and excitement take for granted, like:

• What is carbon removal’s role?

• How should we define CDR?

• How should corporates think about supporting the burgeoning CDR market?

• Is it accurate to say there’s a CDR market in the first place?

I’m excited to speak to today’s guests because they bring a degree of clarity to a marketplace that still feels shrouded in obscurity. They work on Milkywire’s Climate Transformation Fund supporting catalytic solutions - including permanent carbon removal - that are needed to reach global climate targets.

In their capacity, they have worked through pretty foundational questions about CDR and have valuable insights to share on how we should be defining carbon removal, the state of the market today, and key priorities for the industry going forward.

In this episode, Na’im, Robert, and Natalya discuss:

• A more precise definition of carbon removal

• Milkywire’s Climate Transformation Fund

• The effective altruism case for supporting carbon removal

• Does the carbon removal market even exist?

• Where does the CDR industry go from here?

Relevant links:

• Milkywire’s Climate Transformation Fund

• Climate Transformation Fund’s 2022 Progress Report

• Article: Nature restoration and carbon removal are not the same. Here’s why it matters

• Article: The carbon removal market doesn’t exist

• CDR.FYI dashboard

About Robert Höglund:

Robert is an independent consultant dedicated to advancing the carbon removal ecosystem, writing about it, working on research and policy projects, running CDR trainings, etc. He also manages the Climate Transformation Fund at Milkywire, a donation fund that supports CDR and other climate projects. (Twitter)

About Dr. Natalya Jarlebring:

Natalya is a senior environmental lead at the tech platform Milkywire. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Södertörn University, Sweden. Her research focused on various aspects of natural resource governance, as well as forest-related policy debates and their implications for the EU climate commitments. Natalya has also extensive experience working as a consultant in natural resource management and climate adaptation solutions. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast app or subscribe via The Carbon Curve newsletter here. If you’d like to get in touch with Na’im, you can reach out via Twitter and LinkedIn.

Na’im Merchant is an advisor and thought partner to start-ups, policy groups, and research organizations on scaling up climate technologies to meet the monumental challenge of removing billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere to combat climate change. Every two weeks, Na’im will release a short interview with individuals advancing bold new ideas and taking a collective action approach to scaling up carbon removal.