Reduce or remove?

Let’s be clear from the start: the most effective way to cut the amount of carbon we add to the atmosphere is not to emit it in the first place. Unfortunately, we’ve known this for decades. Climate scientists have been sounding the alarm for the last 50 years. And yet, emissions have continued to rise and fossil fuels still dominate our lives.

That brings us to carbon markets, where things get a little murkier. In the context of carbon credits, reductions refer to avoiding future emissions. Think renewables displacing an old coal power plant. They’re important but measuring their true impact is notoriously difficult. Would the wind farm project have happened anyway? The concept of additionality, comes into play, and reduction credits tend to struggle here. It’s also fair to ask shouldn’t you be reducing those emissions anyway, with or without credit revenue?

On the other hand, durable carbon removals, technologies that physically remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and lock it away, offer a more tangible form of impact. Whether it’s direct air capture, enhanced rock weathering, or biochar, these methods provide greater certainty. The carbon is taken out, tracked, and stored, often for centuries or more. From a buyer’s perspective, removals score higher on transparency, durability and measurability. They’re more trustworthy and there’s much lower risk of greenwashing.

The catch is that removals don’t come cheap. Right now, carbon dioxide removal costs significantly more than most reduction credits. And it’s likely to stay this way until sufficient investment and scaling can bring the cost down. Think about solar power: in the early 2000s, it was wildly expensive. Today, it’s one of the cheapest energy sources on the planet. Thanks to early adopters and public support the industry was able to scale and is now flourishing. We need to thread a similar path with carbon removals.

Reducing emissions should always be the first step. That’s non-negotiable. But achieving true net zero means going further. It means removing what we can’t eliminate. And it means recognising that without today’s support, there won’t be a mature carbon removal market waiting for us tomorrow. So as you plan your climate strategy, don’t just think about offsets as a short-term fix. Think of them as an investment for the future of the planet.