We only have one planet (at least, thus far), one place for all of us to live. Yet we are on the verge of destruction of the human home via runaway planetary warming as historical practices of unleashed industrial activities and the individual human activities of our billions push natural processes well past their carrying capacity. What’s a human race to do? 

Why do we need to consider carbon drawdown and not just aim towards carbon neutrality?

Curbing the release of carbon that feeds the warming that threatens us all is not enough. Even if we achieve enough global political momentum to make our activities carbon-neutral, the planet will continue heating for hundreds of years. We must start removing carbon from the atmosphere. In fact, we must remove a trillion tons of CO2 over the next 50 years. This is a daunting task, but not impossible.

So, how do we create incentives for drawdown?

One of the major issues with climate change is that our economic system rewards CO2 generating activities. How do we incentivize removing carbon from the atmosphere? Maddie Hall and Patrick Mellor aim to create the first profitable negative emissions company at the +1Gt scale. They are developing trees with more efficient CO2 uptake that produce faster-growing and more durable wood.

What issues will we be discussing during this salon?

On what scale must this strategy (and generally any drawdown solution) be deployed to meaningfully help with the climate crisis? What are the risks and known unknowns of such strategy? Are they worth being taken? Are they greater or lesser than other drawdown solutions? How does this compare with the main geoengineering pathways?

— Join, find out, challenge our guests speakers, contribute to the discussion. This is, as always, a participative salon. Members of Foresight’s community hold relevant knowledge and expertise, and are not shy to engage. There will be other attendees with climate crisis related projects in attendance. We expect a lively discussion!