Changing your mind is never easy. If you have believed that something is true for a long time, it can be challenging to be convinced that it’s not true.

I was in Paris in 2015 for the meeting of the 195 nations that belong to the UN Framework Convention that concluded that nations had to take concrete steps to ensure that the temperature of the world would not go over an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius in order to prevent more destructive results from climate change including rising temperatures, floods, more powerful hurricanes, draughts, wild fires, and rising sea levels.

In order to keep 1.5 degrees Celsius, the nations of the world agreed they have to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions including carbon dioxide and methane. The Earth is already about 1.2 degrees C higher than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. To keep the rise in global warming to no more than 1.5°C, emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero (which means that greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans are exactly balanced by greenhouse sinks - reservoirs that absorb) by 2050.

Transitioning to a net-zero world is one of the greatest challenges that humankind has ever faced. It calls for nothing less than a complete transformation of how we produce, consume, and move about. The energy sector is the source of around three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions today and holds the key to averting the worst effects of climate change. Replacing polluting coal, gas, and oil-fired power with renewable sources, such as wind, geothermal, or solar, would dramatically reduce carbon emissions. That replacement is called mitigation.

It also requires adaptation, which is fixing things in a way that will prevent problems in the future. This involves minimizing harm and maximizing opportunities presented by climate change, such as building sea walls to protect against rising sea levels and fixing leaky pipes carrying methane. Methane is a powerful chemical that causes even more damage than carbon dioxide and the process of extracting it can cause leaks which the fossil fuel companies should fix.

The scientific community began to emphasize the need to scale up removals of atmospheric pollution as well as diminishing emissions. Fossil fuels companies have been suggesting that Carbon Dioxide Removal, when it is developed, is a means to combat climate change and limit global warming to 1.5°C. They argue that Carbon Dioxide Removal (or more accurately Greenhouse Gas Removal [GGR]) can be used to diminish the dangerous weather conditions that we are experiencing. They argue that GGR is needed to address historical or legacy emissions, from hard-to-abate sectors, and to compensate for potential overshoot of climate targets. 

Most of us concerned about climate change have viewed GGR as a way to avoid the responsibility of taking the steps needed to keep rising temperatures from exceeding 1.5 Celsius. I am now changing my mind, and see that GGR is essential for several reasons: 

• Hundreds of billions of tons of CO2 have already been released into the atmosphere, and are persisting there, contributing to ongoing warming. GGR is necessary to actively remove this legacy pollution.
• Some sectors, like aviation and certain industrial processes, face significant challenges to completely eliminating their CO2 emissions. GGR can neutralize these residual emissions and achieve net-zero.
• Most climate models indicate that even with rapid emissions reductions, some degree of overshoot of the 1.5°C warming target is now unavoidable. GGR can help bring temperatures back down after any overshoot.
• To achieve net-zero, and eventually net negative emissions, both reductions and GGR are necessary. GGR can help balance out remaining emissions and ultimately reduce the total legacy amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. 

GGR includes nature-based solutions like reforestation, soil carbon sequestration and other practices that enhance carbon storage in ecosystems, and technological solutions like direct air capture and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. While GGR is essential, its current capacity is far below what is needed to meet climate goals. Scaling up GGR requires significant investment in research, development, and deployment of both nature-based and technological solutions. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the scientific and technical arm of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in its report in 2021 said that carbon capture and storage remain essential to climate mitigation strategies. GGR is no longer an option but a necessity alongside emissions reductions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and create a sustainable future. It is crucial to invest in research and development of CDR technologies, while also ensuring that these approaches are implemented responsibly and equitably. 

It would be a mistake to reject any strategy that has received the attention that GGR has gotten. We need every serious strategy to protect God’s creation.