Even if we are able to cut out all our carbon emissions as fast as possible, we would still need to remove carbon we've already put in the atmosphere to hit global temperature targets. The Carbon Removal Show podcast interviewed Dr Steve Smith, George Hope and others from the Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub to discuss the state of carbon removal in the UK today.

A mix of scientists, economists and government advisers met in London last week to discuss how removing greenhouse gases from air could help the UK hit net-zero emissions by 2050. 

Professor Cameron Hepburn told the audience that scaling up these technologies would require “the establishment of a pretty big new industry in a pretty short timescale”.

Professor Cameron Hepburn talked to The Guardian about the launch of the CO2 Removal Hub, which launched on 24 May with £30m of funding. He commented: 'This is seriously exciting and pretty much world leading... Nobody really wants to be in the situation of having to suck so much CO2 from the atmosphere. But that is where we are, we have delayed for too long.'

Purchasing carbon offsets "is clearly better than doing nothing," Cameron Hepburn tells Wired. But key considerations include the need for companies to already be reducing emissions and assurance that offsets aren't replacing other actions.

Extensive coverage in the Economist of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) prompted a response from Professor Cameron Hepburn, Director of the Smith School. The letter highlights recent research on CO2 utilisation as well as the potential of mandatory carbon sequestration - requiring fossil-fuel companies to capture and safely dispose of a fraction of the carbon dioxide that they extract or import - to speed investment in CCUS technologies.