What is the role of philanthropy in carbon removal in Europe
Philanthropic funds have history catalysing ambitious climate policies and advancing vital new technologies. The same needs to be the case for carbon removal.
The Backstory
Philanthropy in carbon removal is having a moment...in the US. Whether it’s proceeds of the latest non fungible token (NFT) sale making its way to a dedicated US non-profit advocate for carbon removal, the Musk Foundation funded $100 million XPRIZE for carbon removal, or FedEx’s $100 million gift to Yale University to fund a new institute for nature-based solutions, philanthropy has started recognising the climate necessity of carbon removal. This was succinctly communicated in a fantastic recent piece by Jan Mazurek of ClimateWorks and Noah Deich of Carbon180. A question however remains on the other side of the pond: What is the role of philanthropy in carbon removal in Europe?
The climate science is largely in agreement that the world has delayed the task of decarbonisation for so long that in addition to a rapid reduction of emissions, we also need to remove CO2 from the air and oceans to prevent the worst effects of climate change. This was the conclusion of the IPCC in its 2018 Special Report: all pathways that limit global warming to 1.5°C with limited or no overshoot project the use of carbon removal on the order of 100-1000 billion tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2) over the 21st century. Moral hazard arguments against funding carbon removal stopped being valid a while ago - the climate maths otherwise just doesn’t add up.
The European Union seem to agree with this sentiment in the design of their newly updated - if slightly underwhelming in ambition - climate targets. The European Climate Law sets out separate targets for emission reduction and carbon removal, while also recognising the need to develop both “natural” and “technological” carbon sinks. The updated Law also mandates the development of a regulatory framework to certify carbon removal, as well as making “a commitment to negative emissions after 2050". Europe has history when it comes to catalysing market development and deployment of new climate technologies - think Germany’s Feed-in-Tariffs for solar PV and the United Kingdom’s Contracts-for-Difference financing model for offshore wind.
Germany’s Energiewende policy leading to the Feed-in-Tariff model for solar deployment in particular was led by philanthropic funded social activism. Driven by concerns around air pollution and energy security, this experience has subsequently shaped Europe’s approach to environmental justice and international equity, which have since become key pillars of European climate policy. This must be replicated for carbon removal - which Europe is well placed to deliver - informed by its leadership in setting standards for data privacy (GDPR) and financial market regulations (MiFID II), putting consumer and investor protection at the forefront, respectively, which the rest of the world often subsequently follow.
Where Are We
To-date, funding for carbon removal in Europe has been scarce to say the least. Beyond the UK’s £110m for early-stage carbon removal R&D and demonstration projects, being eligible for portions of the EU’s €10bn Innovation Fund, and Swiss Re’s commitment to shifting away from conventional carbon offsets to purchasing carbon removal certificates instead, European governments and industry have been conspicuously absent and slow to recognise the necessity of widespread carbon removal to meet our climate goals. While governments are starting to take notice, and a number of industry associated organisations have sprung up, philanthropy can play three vital roles facilitating and accelerating the agenda required by the climate science to catalyse a vibrant carbon removal ecosystem in Europe:
Fund the advocates and non-profits who see the need and opportunity to advance responsible carbon removal policy and finance in Europe and who will channel the voice of civil society
Facilitate cutting-edge R&D and technology demonstration which are too nascent for public and alternative sources of funding
Leverage existing net-zero commitments to encourage procurement and purchasing of carbon removal while promoting a widespread net-negative agenda
Philanthropic funding of effective, independent advocates for carbon removal has anecdotally shown its value through the respective successes of Carbon180 in the US advocating for increased federal budgets for carbon removal R&D and broader deployment incentives. More importantly, the data on the efficacy of philanthropy in impacting climate change mitigation speaks for itself. A recent report by the global philanthropic community Founders Pledge found that a $100 donation to an effective climate non-profit will yield between 100-1,000 tonnes of avoided CO2 emissions. For context, a return flight between London and New York in economy class typically emits 1 tonne of CO2. Funding an effective climate non-profit offers significantly better impact value and ROI than even the cheapest of avoidance focused carbon offsets out there.
Given this, it is alarming that a 2019 study by the ClimateWorks Foundation found that a mere 2% of global philanthropic giving is dedicated to climate change mitigation - with carbon removal making up less than 2% of that climate change mitigation philanthropy budget, or just $25 million of the $1.6 billion in awards in 2019 from foundations (recent funding announcements obviously increase this amount significantly). The nascent position of the carbon removal field and the scale of the challenge ahead offers the European philanthropic community an opportunity to make a significant impact in catalysing this field. In particular, ensuring environmental justice groups and local communities have a seat at the table to shape the development of carbon removal policies and deployment to truly ‘decolonise the atmosphere’ - ensuring that both the costs and profits associated with removing carbon are equitably shared.
What Do We Need
Similar to the role philanthropy played in advocating for advancing the R&D and early deployment agenda of energy technologies, carbon removal in Europe requires its own independent flagbearer, free from entrenched industrial and private sector interests. Attention on carbon removal from US philanthropists and advocacy organisations should provide added impetus to the European philanthropic ecosystem to fund nascent research into potential carbon removal solutions and support in shaping the industry, while also advancing ambition across the continent from merely ‘net-zero’ to what the EU recently recognised as necessary: net-negative.
We must acknowledge the fact that carbon removal is by no means a nice to have but rather a necessity, in addition to rapid and widespread decarbonisation, to achieve our climate goals. The conversation in Europe must therefore advance from one of whether to fund carbon removal, to how to develop and deploy these solutions in an equitable and just manner. Philanthropy in Europe can and must play a leading role in this context, in addition to promoting a research, development and deployment agenda which recognises the nascent position of these solutions - similar to solar PV and offshore wind a couple of decades ago, and puts philanthropic funds to work in carbon removal across the board to have a fighting chance of deploying them at scale when the time comes that we truly need them.
To receive David and Goliath’s commentary, analysis and thoughts in your inbox once a week, become a subscriber today!
✓
If you enjoyed this piece, you can share it as a web page by clicking the button below:
If you’ve got useful (and/or interesting) things to say and would like to post a comment, click the “Leave a comment” button:
Stay positive, be kind to those around you, and have a great week ahead!