The world today faces a mounting environmental crisis. Rising Levels of CO2 are leading to global warming, the acidification of our oceans, and the destruction of ecosystems worldwide. Worse yet, these changes have led to feedback mechanisms that are making the situation worse. In short, Climate Change constitutes an existential threat that demands action. The extent of Climate Change and the dangers it poses are regularly catalogued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC. This United Nations body was created to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments, notify them of the implications for future changes and recommend adaptation and mitigating options.
But is this enough? Adaptation and mitigation mean focusing on limiting the extent of the damage and dealing with whatever comes our way. In response, there is a growing movement to introduce a third priority to Climate Change action - restoration. Rather than merely limiting or absorbing the damage, we should reverse it.
Given that carbon dioxide emissions are the driving factor behind climate change, restoration strategies call for the active removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, a process known as Carbon Dioxide Removal, CDR. Alongside research into alternative fuels, renewable energy, and Carbon Capture(CC operations), CDR may be the key to preventing ecological disasters in this century.
Since the 1998 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, society has organized efforts to limit the magnitude of climate change around the concept of stabilization. That is, accepting some climate change but holding it within acceptable bounds. Hence the exploration of the concept of climate restoration. Seeking to return atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gasses to pre-industrial levels within one to two generations. Using a simple integrated assessment model, the analysis examines climate restoration through the lens of risk management under conditions of deep uncertainty, exploring the technology, economic, and policy conditions under which it might be possible to achieve various climate restoration goals and the conditions under which society might be better off with (rather than without) a climate restoration goal.
One organization looking to make this happen is the Foundation for Climate Restoration (F4CR), a non-profit and non-partisan organization based in Silicon Valley. Through efforts designed to raise awareness, promote innovation, and help entrepreneurs find markets for their methods, they intend to mobilize humanity and its resources towards the common goal of saving planet Earth.
What is the threat of Climate Change? Since the IPCC’s creation in 1988, it has issued multiple Assessment Reports and multiple Special Reports. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) was the most recent, which was issued in 2014 and will be followed by AR6 sometime in September 2022. The data and findings of each are produced by three Working Groups, each focusing on a different aspect of the problem.
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Climate Restoration