Assistant Professor of Soil Health Michigan State University, Michigan, United States
Session Description: The world faces an urgent need to stop the increase of greenhouse gases, climate change, and their devastating impacts on humanity. In addition to cutting emissions, we must remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The theme of this session is to understand how ecological processes can be leveraged to reduce current concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) can be accomplished through a variety of natural, managed, and engineered solutions, including soil carbon sequestration, biomass carbon removal and storage, enhanced mineralization, ocean-based solutions, afforestation and reforestation, and direct air capture coupled with durable and long-term storage. Tools such as eddy covariance flux towers and model forecasting are equally important tools to decarbonize agriculture, forested, aquatic, and urban sectors. CDR requires life cycle analyses, to ensure carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere remains in durable storage for decades to millennia.
CDR solutions must incorporate a deep commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental justice. We are already suffering the negative impacts of climate change and know that structurally marginalized and climate-vulnerable communities and nations are experiencing the most acute impacts of climate change first-hand. Because CDR is a relatively new industry, approaches should limit harm to vulnerable communities by incorporating inclusive and extensively researched best practices, while working in tandem with the most vulnerable communities. We have an opportunity to grow the CDR industry into a community that promotes environmental justice, incorporates DEIJ into its core practices and solutions, and values a diverse workforce. The CDR community has an opportunity to transform education and stakeholder engagement using a DEI lens. The next generation of students will be our most diverse to date. Our education and outreach must create opportunities for k-12 students to engage with scientists from historically excluded groups. Expanding mentoring and internship programs around the topic of CRD and bringing diverse scientists to k-12 classrooms will be essential as we work to expand and diversify the CRD community.
This special session will be organized around keynote remarks followed by a panel-led discussion of promising pathways and critical considerations for inclusive and just approaches to CDR. We will focus on connecting across private, public, industry, and other sectors to engage in research, policy, and stewardship while advancing social and environmental equality. We will provide opportunities to interact and build new networks to accelerate progress. We aim to inspire research questions, build community, and generate actionable outcomes.
