The folks from The Carbon Removal Show (TCRS) podcast joined our recent UK GGR Event: Current Innovations and Future Directions, to record two very special episodes.
Series 2, Episode 2: The State of Carbon Removal in the UK
In Series 2, episode 2, the podcasters interviewed members of CO2RE to get the latest expert insight on the current state of carbon removal in the UK.
Dr Steve Smith, CO2RE executive director, spoke to TCRS about his analogy comparing Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) to cleaning up waste. “We’re right by the river thames on the Victoria Embankment, which was built as part of the London sewer system in the 1800s. This exists as a clean-up for environmental waste. With Greenhouse Gas Removal, one way to think of it is that we’re cleaning up the greenhouse gas waste that’s accumulated in the atmosphere.”
Podcast host Tom Previte also spoke to Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, co-lead on governance, legal & ethical factors and EDI at CO2RE, about the growing GGR sector. He said: “The GGR sector is going to be massive. We don’t want it to have the characteristics of discrimination and exclusion that predecessor industrial sectors have.”
Dr Emily Cox, researcher on responsible innovation and societal engagement at CO2RE, spoke to the podcasters about the historic lack of engagement with youth voices in climate research, something our project is endeavouring to improve. She also noted that, whilst being cautious not to over-promise, “We have an opportunity to bring some hope into this space.”
The podcast finishes with a re-cap of our panel event: ‘Green Shoots – Scaling GGR rapidly, effectively, sustainably and equitably’. The panel featured Judith Thornton, of the PBC4GGR Demonstrator and Aberystwyth University; Ita Kettleborough from the Energy Transitions Commission; Laith Whitwham of Aldersgate Group and Liz Bowles of the Soil Association. Watch the full panel discussion here.
Series 2, Episode 3: Live in London: Getting removal right for people and planet
Series 2, episode 3 of The Carbon Removal Show covers our public event, ‘Greenhouse Gas Removal: Getting It Right for People and the Planet’. Our very own Dr Rob Bellamy joined panellists Dr Nem Vaughan, University of East Anglia and Dr Amiera Sawas, Climate Outreach, alongside podcast host Tom Previte.
After an introduction to the range of Greenhouse Gas Removal methods by Dr Nem Vaughan, Dr Rob Bellamy, who leads CO2RE’s work stream on responsible innovation and societal engagement, explained why this theme is so important.
“We need GGR to counteract residual emissions. But we also know people have a lot of concerns about it. What do we do when we know we need to do something but it raises a lot of concerns? We need to do it responsibly.”
“What is responsible innovation? It has four dimensions: anticipating the possible impacts that might arise; reflecting on uncertainties and assumptions we are making; engaging society; and finally, being able to change the trajectory of the innovation in response to the intelligence we develop on the other three dimensions.”
Find out more about the UK GGR Event and watch all the talks and panel discussions.
