Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

CO2BC fills a critical missing gap for carbon management innovators by providing services that individual startups cannot afford (engaging in policy, public affairs, etc) and to collectively advocate for responsible growth that enshrines the principles of DEI and climate justice surrounding carbon drawdown, recognizing climatic effects are amplified on differing parts of the world. 

In 2021, CO2BC conducted discovery interviews with a variety of startup executives to understand what could help scale the carbon management industry, focusing on challenges faced by companies in bringing their products to market and services that would be most beneficial in overcoming those challenges. Industry executives reported high levels of support for joining a tech-neutral trade association. We formally launched in July 2022 and now provide services covering policy development, public affairs, government relations, networking, responsible growth, and community engagement, and serve as a nexus and collaborative platform for the whole carbon management ecosystem.

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How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

CO2BC provides a unique, central platform where carbon drawdown and management innovators from around the world can collaborate towards scaling the industry, and, therefore, the amount of emissions to be removed from the atmosphere and ocean. We help build and scale policy for federal and international policymakers and collectively advocate for the industry, with our services helping teams responsibly deploy their technology with cognizant community discussions. As a unified platform, we provide working groups where companies can discuss pathways for responsible and scaled technological deployment while working with other partners in the field. These groups in turn produce policy briefs and white papers that can be shared with policymakers and the community at large to scale carbon drawdown. We provide this voice for them on Capitol Hill and in other categories of the world, such as with the UNFCCC, European Commission, and more, championing a responsible narrative while helping companies grow. More so, with our resources we are able to provide unique opportunities for members to have direct discussions with change-making policy divisions like the Department of Energy where they can discuss challenges and bottlenecks in the industry, helping policymakers understand areas where changes can be made to help the industry develop. Furthermore, our association helps companies continue their development by providing information to them on funding opportunities. Many have expressed the chicken-and-egg difficulties experienced in the field, where many are too small to have technology developed that investors want to invest in yet they can‚ t grow this technology without said investments. CO2BC is partnered with a wide range of accelerators and incubators as well as international prizes, and lays out important deadlines for federal funding so that companies can see where and how to qualify for funding. This semi-financial facilitation will continue to help innovators grow their technologies, meaning they can then grow their teams to include DEI experts and to have the resources and foundational understandings of how to responsibly deploy their technologies. Importantly, as the field becomes more prominent and understood, it also means that investors will be more aware of and confident in investing in these solutions, which can have gigaton-scale climatic impacts. As a collective voice, the association also provides great media opportunities for carbon removal as a whole. We work with groups from around the world, ranging from academia think tanks to government offices, international carbon markets, local community groups, tribal groups, and more to discuss the challenges, strengths, and needs within the industry. By providing public affairs opportunities, we help companies receive media attraction and later potential funding, and also help clarify the narrative of carbon removal as being importantly separate from the fossil industry. We advocate for how carbon removal as nascent technologies can be proactive in having equitable distribution, rather than falling into the linear approach of retroactive environmental remediation that many technologies across the United States have faced, protecting local communities along the way.

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

CO2BC is committed to responsible growth for startups and engaging with climate-vulnerable communities. As part of this commitment, we have created the Ethical Oath, the premier ethical standard for the carbon management industry. Carbon management professionals are invited to sign the oath in an effort to advocate for responsible industry growth, scaling carbon drawdown while supporting mitigation policy. This growth includes elevating the values of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion along with community engagement. Expanding on this, we hold monthly member trainings where we work with the greater carbon management community to help our members understand how to scale responsibly within communities across the US and globally. Internally, 50% of our team is women-led, more than 20 of our member companies are women-led, and we have a myriad of companies based and operating in the Global South that provide valuable member input in our policy development. 

By engaging with communities, encouraging responsible industry growth, and creating a scholarship fund to invite a spectrum of carbon startups to join us, we have a focus on empowering traditionally underrepresented voices. We also help these startups build DEI into their companies and framing of their interactions with the environment, and provide a forum to help startups align with Justice40 initiatives. On a local scale, CDR technologies can support communities, yet it is critical that these technologies are also developed with input from the community; CO2BC provides trainings for companies to start understanding how to develop and implement these community engagement strategies.

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