While the carbon removal sector is growing rapidly, it remains a male-dominated field. Nonetheless, women in carbon removal are making waves — driving progress in policy, technology, and community engagement and shaping the future of carbon removal in meaningful ways.
To spotlight these voices and address the challenge of trust in carbon removal, Carbon Removal Canada and Women in Carbon co-hosted an engaging discussion at Impact Hub Ottawa on “Building Confidence in Carbon Removal.” This served as a pre-event for Carbon Removal Day but was a sold-out event in its own right.
Over 50 attendees gathered to hear an all-women group of experts from different sectors explore how to drive the industry forward. Their leadership and experience give them firsthand insight into the industry’s challenges, particularly when it comes to ensuring carbon removal solutions deliver real and lasting benefits.
Setting the stage: An optimistic keynote
The evening kicked off with a thought-provoking keynote from Lori Guetre (Carbon Engineering), titled Do Our Best, Remove the Rest – But Can We Afford It? She began by asking: “Would we pay, on average, 2 per cent more for goods if it meant we could clean up the mess they created?” Her presentation then broke down the affordability and necessity of carbon removal in the broader net-zero equation, as well as options for individual everyday decisions. She ended on a hopeful note, reminding attendees that many now-standard solutions, from sanitation to recycling, faced opposition when they were first introduced.
Panel discussion: Perspectives from experts
The keynote was followed by a panel moderated by Natasha Bernardi (Carbon Removal Canada), featuring Vida Gabriel (TerraFixing), Ashley Callister (B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy), and Claudia Gaudreault (Environment and Climate Change Canada).
Strengthening confidence requires addressing skepticism
A key theme that emerged was trust — how to build it, maintain it, and address skepticism in the space. Panellists emphasized the importance of transparency, active listening, and honest relationships in engaging the public, policymakers, developers, and investors. As public awareness of the need for carbon removal grows, confidence in these solutions won’t come from promises alone; it will require a willingness to engage in honest conversation about uncertainties. And to overcome uncertainty will first require proven results and then clear communication about what works.
Clearer policy will make scaling easier
The conversation shifted to uncertainties, which remain a major bottleneck for scaling carbon removal — especially due to how complex industry supply chains are. Direct air capture, for example, requires not only removing carbon but also storing it, monitoring its efficacy, and finding a place for credits on the carbon market. Companies and investors, the panellists explained, have trouble making significant moves forward without clear policies around each step.
Primary concerns included the need for expanded legislation around geologic storage, as only a few provinces currently allow for it, and the need for clearer frameworks on Canadian carbon markets for them to be impactful beyond revenue generation. This sparked a broader discussion on how to speed up the regulatory process without compromising quality and accountability.
Collaboration is a must to balance speed and rigour in setting standards
One of the biggest tensions in carbon removal today is the need to develop strong standards — quickly. Panellists agreed that while rigorous standards are essential for credibility, they cannot be so rigid that they stifle innovation or slow deployment. Collaboration and knowledge sharing between all stakeholders, from government to technical experts, is key to striking this balance. Canada’s direct air capture protocol was lauded as setting an early precedent in taking action.
Building confidence in carbon removal
The panel ended with rapid-fire questions, and each panellist shared one key takeaway on fostering effective collaboration in the field. Their insights reflected the core themes of the evening: admitting when you don’t know something can open doors to learning and new partnerships, active listening is essential for driving innovation, and meaningful collaboration with Indigenous communities is critical to scaling carbon removal responsibly.
An important moment of the evening came when it became obvious how interconnected each panellists’ work is — whether they came from a policy, technology, or investment angle, each speaker’s work elevates the others’. Ultimately, building confidence in carbon removal requires open dialogue, strong partnerships, and clear policy signals. This panel reinforced the importance of trust, transparency, and cross-sector collaboration in moving the industry forward.
