Despite the fact that climate change is a pressing concern with material and immediate negative health effects, to put it mildly, it is not of interest to many of the people who are in control of where money and research attention are flowing. There is this idea that climate change can be easily solved, and we already know how to do it. So once... See more

Before starting this memo I would like to touch some words on afforestation/reforestation programs (a.k.a planting trees) as a carbon offset mechanism. Planting trees has become the darling of many large companies that aim to become carbon neutral in the next couple of years. However, planting trees (as a carbon offset mechanism) has many issues:

The key challenges to large-scale removal of carbon dioxide from the air are both technical and sociological. They include: 1) lack of knowledge – about the technologies needed, or how much capital will be necessary to pay for vital infrastructure; 2) fear – of unintended consequences, and that a reimagining of our global energy system will result... See more