Why both trees and technology are important in the race to mitigate carbon emissions

"Framing carbon removal as a choice between nature and technology obscures what actually matters: how various methods perform, when they can be scaled up and which specific climate problem they are meant to address."

"Removing carbon as soon as possible will deliver more climate benefits than will doing so later, even if the storage method is not permanent."

Two standards will be released to govern corporate climate action, addressing the divisive issue of carbon removal methods for offsetting emissions. The International Organization for Standardization's net-zero standard and the Science Based Targets Initiative's corporate rules will be introduced. The debate contrasts nature-based approaches, like reforestation, with engineered technologies that capture carbon directly. This framing obscures critical factors such as performance, scalability, and timing, which are essential for effective climate action. Immediate carbon removal can yield significant climate benefits, especially in the next two decades.

Read at Nature