Carbon Removal in Africa: Why Integrity Matters More Than Scale
Carbon removal is rapidly moving from the margins of climate policy into the mainstream. Governments, corporations, and investors increasingly view carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as essential for achieving net‑zero targets. But as interest accelerates, a critical question emerges especially in Africa: can carbon removal scale without sacrificing integrity, communities, and land systems?
Unlike emissions reduction, carbon removal addresses historical emissions already in the atmosphere. This distinction is fundamental yet often misunderstood. Many national climate strategies are built around greenhouse gas inventories that track current emissions by sector such as transport, energy, and industry. Carbon removal operates outside these frameworks, targeting atmospheric carbon that traditional inventories overlook. As a result, policy uncertainty and skepticism persist.
Integrity is a defining challenge. Carbon removal must be measurable, durable, and verifiable over long time horizons. If carbon is removed today but re‑released tomorrow, climate benefits evaporate. This is why durability, that is, the length of time carbon remains stored, is central to credible CDR. Engineered solutions like direct air capture aim to store carbon for hundreds or thousands of years, aligning with the long lifespan of CO₂ in the atmosphere.
Yet integrity is not only a technical issue. It is also social. Projects that ignore land rights, community benefits, or local realities risk backlash and failure. In Africa, where land degradation, food security, and employment are urgent concerns, carbon removal cannot be an abstract financial instrument. It must deliver tangible value.
Biochar offers a powerful example. Produced by converting agricultural waste into stable carbon, biochar can improve soil health, increase yields, and lock carbon away for decades or longer. For farmers, the climate benefit is secondary to the primary metric that matters: productivity. When yields improve, trust follows. When benefits are delayed or framed only in terms of future carbon revenue, projects falter.
Markets, however, often reward speed and scale over quality. Buyers want certainty, volume, and low prices. This pressure can incentivize overstated claims, weak measurement, or reliance on assumptions instead of real‑world data. High‑integrity monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems are essential guardrails, but they require time, capital, and transparency.
Africa’s opportunity is to do carbon removal differently. With abundant renewable energy, untapped geothermal resources, rich biomass streams, and a growing pool of technical talent, the continent is uniquely positioned to lead on credible CDR. But leadership will depend on resisting shortcuts.
The future of carbon removal in Africa will be decided not by how fast projects scale, but by whether they earn trust through science, governance, and real benefits for people and land.