Can carbon removals solve climate change?

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There has been a lot of interest in carbon removal in the last couple of years, including high-profile investment from organisations such as Google, Microsoft and Stripe.
It plays an important role in the net-zero journey, but what exactly is carbon removal, and how can it help us to reach global net-zero?
In this guide we’ll be covering: 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What is carbon removal?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Is carbon removal the same as carbon avoidance?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What are the different kinds of carbon removal?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What role does carbon removal play in net-zero?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Why support carbon removal now rather than waiting until your target net-zero year?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Why carbon removal is not a silver bullet</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How does Ecologi approach carbon removal?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How can I support carbon removal through Ecologi?</li>
</ul>

“Carbon removal”, or carbon dioxide removal (CDR) refers to the process of removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing it in a way that prevents its release back into the atmosphere.

Is carbon removal the same as carbon avoidance?

Carbon avoidance projects prevent additional greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere by reducing sources of emissions. An example of this would be replacing a fossil fuel power plant with a wind farm or a solar farm. From the moment the renewable energy replaces energy from fossil fuels, the potential emissions of the fossil fuels that aren’t burned for energy are categorised as avoided emissions.
Carbon removal differs from carbon avoidance because it removes CO2 from the atmosphere.
So, where avoidance is trying to minimise the volume of greenhouse gases being emitted, removal is trying to decrease the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

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If you think about atmospheric CO2 as the water in a bathtub, with emissions represented by water coming in from the tap &#8211; then direct emissions reductions and carbon avoidance are both akin to turning down (or off) the flow of water from the tap, whereas removals are akin to pulling out the plug to let some of the water drain away.

What are the different methods of carbon removal?

There are several methods of carbon removal, each with their own set of benefits and drawbacks.
As outlined in our <a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230816110540/Carbon_Removal_Strategy_Final-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carbon removal white paper</a>, we categorised these into biological and tech solutions. There are both traditional and ‘novel’ solutions &#8211; innovative solutions, often using cutting edge technology, which draw carbon dioxide from the air.

What role does carbon removal play in net-zero?

Whilst the focus must always remain on reducing emissions on a global level, all IPCC pathways to meet our 1.5ºC and 2ºC climate targets require some deployment of carbon dioxide removal.
The role of carbon removal in <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/net-zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the net-zero journey</a> (illustrated in the graph below) for businesses is two fold:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">At the end of the net-zero journey, where you must neutralise a maximum of 10% of your original emissions through carbon removal credits (in blue)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Throughout the net-zero journey, where carbon removal credits should feature as a component of your beyond value chain mitigation (‘BVCM’) / “fund climate action” (in green)</li>
</ol>

There is an urgent need for businesses to support climate action including removals throughout their net-zero journey, not just at the end.
Much like businesses have a portfolio of investments, they should also establish their own Beyond Value Chain (BVCM), or “climate action”, portfolio &#8211; a range of projects, which includes reforestation, conservation, carbon avoidance and removal projects, which the business funds throughout their climate journey, to help contribute towards global net-zero.

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In fact, the Net-Zero Standard recommends that businesses focus on securing and enhancing carbon sinks (terrestrial, coastal and marine, etc.) to avoid the emissions that arise from their degradation.
A strong climate action (BVCM) portfolio will therefore include a range of projects. This should include carbon removal, carbon avoidance, other forms of nature and habitat restoration, and more.

One vitally important thing to remember about carbon removal is that it is not &#8211; and, despite what some people say, will never be &#8211; a silver bullet for solving climate change.
This is for a number of reasons:
<ul>
<li>Scale. Carbon removal will only ever have a limited role because it cannot compensate for the sheer scale of emissions we are globally producing. That’s why reducing emissions directly must always be the first priority.</li>
<li>Uncertainties. Many new carbon removal methods are in their infancy, and it is unclear exactly how scalable they can be.</li>
<li>Energy requirements. Removing carbon can be energy-intensive and requires substantial resources, including land, water and electricity.</li>
<li>High cost. Some new technologies cost over $1,000 per tonne of carbon dioxide removed. Costs are projected to decrease over time, but will remain relatively high in the short to medium term.</li>
<li>Earth system imbalances. The net effect on the Earth system of a tonne of carbon dioxide emitted and subsequently removed, is not the same as the net effect of simply not producing the emissions in the first place.</li>
</ul>

How does Ecologi approach carbon removal?

Our recently published <a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230816110540/Carbon_Removal_Strategy_Final-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carbon removal strategy</a> unpacks a lot more about the types of solutions existing in the market; the potential of carbon removal including side effects; the prospects of the existing projects within the carbon market, as well as the insights which directed Ecologi’s Impact Team in selecting our first carbon removal projects.
Based on this research, Ecologi’s carbon removal strategy prioritises nature-based solutions including afforestation, blue carbon (mangrove &amp; seagrass planting and protection), soil carbon sequestration and more proven novel approaches, like biochar production and enhanced weathering, over those which are less proven, scalable, or come with a higher risk of negative side-effects.
Our carbon removal project selection maintains the same quality standards we’ve always had, ensuring projects are certified through bodies such as Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard, as well as other highly regarded certifying bodies such as Puro. Find out more about how Ecologi sources high-quality carbon credits <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/articles/blog/funding-carbon-credits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

How can I support carbon removal with Ecologi?

You can fund carbon removal in our <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/business/impact-shop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Impact Shop</a>, through biochar, afforestation, or blue carbon (mangroves &amp; seagrass planting and protection).

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When you fund carbon removal projects through Ecologi, you’ll see the tonnes of carbon removed appear on your profile.

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Is your business ready to take climate action?

Complete the form below to schedule a call with our team to start your climate journey and create a solution to suit your business. Alternatively if you already know what you need then visit our Impact Shop <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/business/impact-shop">here</a>, or if you&#8217;re an enterprise request a carbon quote <a href="https://info.ecologi.com/climate-action-quotes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

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UK Voluntary Carbon Market Guide: Best Practices for Climate Action

The voluntary carbon market plays an important role in corporate climate strategies – but its effectiveness relies on buyers doing due diligence and rigorous quality assessment on each project, as well as placing the purchase of credits in the right place in the climate journey.
To ensure meaningful climate impact, businesses must develop a comprehensive carbon strategy and find ways to fund only high-quality credits in the voluntary carbon market – and this guide shows you how to do so with Ecologi.

<h2>Table of contents</h2>
<ul>
<li>When to buy carbon credits</li>
<li>Our new carbon projects assessment framework</li>
<li>Ecologi&#8217;s core due diligence principles</li>
<li>How Ecologi scores and ranks carbon credit projects</li>
<li>Questions to ask your carbon credit supplier</li>
<li>Take action in the voluntary carbon market</li>
</ul>

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<h2>When should businesses buy carbon credits in the voluntary market?</h2>
Businesses must not use credits in place of making direct, measurable reductions in their emissions. Instead, follow these steps to ensure you buy your carbon credits on the right step of your corporate climate action journey, and in the right way:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Measure your emissions first – to allow you to understand where your business’s emissions are coming from. 
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Set science-based targets and work towards them – set ambitious targets aligned with the SBTi and compatible with the global 1.5ºC warming target.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Beyond value chain mitigation (BVCM) – design your BVCM portfolio to work alongside your decarbonisation plan and address your unabated emissions in each reporting year. Align it with SBTi guidance and the Oxford Principles. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Buy high-quality carbon credits – use this guide to ensure the carbon credits you buy meet rigorous quality standards. Remember, under the SBTi framework you’ll also need permanent carbon removal credits for neutralising your residual emissions when you reach your net-zero date.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Disclose and report transparently – publicly disclose information about your carbon credit purchases, and clearly communicate the limited role of carbon credits in your broader sustainability strategy.</li>
</ol>

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<h2>Ecologi&#8217;s carbon project assessment framework</h2>
In April 2025, we published a report summarising how we assess carbon credit projects against our rigorous proprietary rubric. A snapshot of what goes into our carbon credit project assessment is below, or you <a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20250428124112/Ecologi_Whitepaper_A4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">download the full whitepaper here</a>.

<h2>Carbon project due diligence: Ecologi’s core principles</h2>
At Ecologi, we maintain general due diligence principles which we apply universally across the voluntary carbon market, to support our efforts to supply only high-quality carbon credits.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">ICROA-endorsed standards only – we supply credits exclusively from carbon standards which are ICROA-endorsed.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Responsive to ICVCM decisions – we support the ICVCM’s two-tick approach to providing CCP-Approval to project methodologies, and we go further still, to assess individual projects on their merits and limitations as well.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Keep the carbon credit life cycle as short as possible – 75% of our credits in 2024 came directly from project developers and their nominated dispensaries (as opposed to intermediaries on the secondary market), maximising the proportion of purchase price which goes to the developer.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Locally-appropriate projects only – we take care to ensure that supported projects are being applied in appropriate geographies, where they can have the greatest impact.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Deep project-level scrutiny – our extensive assessment criteria are specific to each type of project, and we assess every project against these criteria, ensuring the project’s specifics have been taken into account.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Methodological consensus – we synthesise data we receive from our partners Sylvera, BeZero Carbon, Calyx Global and Renoster) with our own in-house analysis to uncover where there is consensus about project quality, and improve confidence.</li>
</ul>

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<h2>How to evaluate carbon credits: Ecologi&#8217;s scoring methodology</h2>
We designed a three-layer assessment process which takes into account the merits and limitations of the carbon standard used, the carbon credit methodology used, and of the individual project design.
The tables below summarise some of the data inputs we use at each stage.

<h3>Assessment level: Carbon Standard</h3>
Examples: Gold Standard, Verra, Puro Earth, Isometric, Plan Vivo.

<h3>Assessment level: Methodology (or ‘Protocol’)</h3>
Examples: GS TPDDTEC, VM0048, ACM0002.

<h3>Assessment level: Project</h3>
Examples: GS 10790, VCS 1571.

Criteria in the assessment are categorised as either quality criteria or risk criteria, and are segmented by our three pillars of impact: Climate, Nature and People. Based on how it meets each criterion, the project gains points for quality criteria, and loses points for excess risk – ultimately giving a risk-adjusted value out of 100 for each of these pillars.
Having gathered our risk-adjusted pillar scores, we use our own unique scoring formula which weights the risk-adjusted Climate score of the project equally with the combined risk-adjusted Nature and People scores. The formula then produces an ‘overall’ score (also out of 100) for the project. In order to be supplied by Ecologi, projects must meet a minimum overall score of 80, and must achieve no lower than 65 in any given risk-adjusted pillar score.

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<h2>Key questions to ask carbon credit suppliers</h2>
Selecting the right carbon credit provider is important to help guide you to make informed choices as part of your corporate sustainability strategy. Before purchasing carbon credits, businesses should ask:
<h3>Project quality </h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you assess/validate/underwrite project quality? If so, how?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do your projects get good ratings from the ratings agencies? If so, what ratings are they?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you source credits directly from project developers, or from the secondary market?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you monitor projects over time to ensure continued success, and how do you remedy it, if a project&#8217;s quality drops?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Due diligence</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you ensure you are supporting the right projects in the right locations?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you account for project permanence and mitigate risks?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What makes your projects additional?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you assess the project&#8217;s impacts on climate, nature and people?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Positioning</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you contribute to the development of a high integrity voluntary carbon market?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you align your portfolios with the Oxford Principles? If so, how?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you reflect ICVCM guidance on carbon credit methodologies and technologies?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you build multi-year portfolios that align to mid- &amp; long-term SBTs?</li>
</ul>
As the voluntary carbon market evolves, corporate buyers have the power and the responsibility to demand high-impact credits to drive real climate progress. This means buyers have a responsibility to do due diligence before placing an order for carbon credits.

<h2>Take action in the voluntary carbon market</h2>
As a business committed to corporate climate action, understanding the voluntary carbon market is essential for making informed decisions about carbon credits. Our comprehensive whitepaper provides deeper insights into creating an effective sustainability strategy.
<a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20250428124112/Ecologi_Whitepaper_A4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download our full whitepaper</a> to learn how your business can navigate the voluntary carbon market with confidence.

<h2>Connect with one of our climate experts</h2>
Please complete our form to arrange a 30-minute discovery call to discuss your goals and get a tailored solution for your business.

Can carbon removals solve climate change?

What is carbon removal?

Is carbon removal the same as carbon avoidance?

What are the different methods of carbon removal?

What role does carbon removal play in net-zero?

Why fund carbon removal now?

Carbon removal is not a silver bullet

How does Ecologi approach carbon removal?

How can I support carbon removal with Ecologi?

Is your business ready to take climate action?

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