The Carbon Curve

Episode 66 is with Richard Barker, Partner at Counteract In this episode, Na’im speaks with Richard Barker , a partner at Counteract , about why financing models vary widely by pathway, capex/opex profile, and deployment context. Richard highlights industrial integration opportunities, the need for team and financial readiness for long corporate timelines, how policy should set stable expectations...

Episode 65 is with Luke Connell (CarbonRun), Trish Nixon (Amplify), and Brandon Vlaar (Mangrove Systems) recorded live during Toronto Climate Week For this special Toronto Climate Week wrap-up, Na’im sits down in person with three of the sharpest minds in the Toronto climate scene, each bringing a different vantage point on where carbon removal really stands. Trish Nixon (Venture Partner at Amplif...

Episode 64 is with Dr. Julio Friedmann, Chief Scientist at Carbon Direct In this episode, Na’im speaks with Dr. Julio Friedmann about Carbon Direct’s recent publication “  5 Pillars of Successful Project Deployment and Delivery ” on what the carbon dioxide removal industry needs to de-risk projects in order to attract new buyers and to stand up infrastructure-scale carbon removal projects. In this...

Episode 63 is with Jack Andreasen Cavanaugh Last week, Heatmap reported that Microsoft — the single largest buyer of durable carbon dioxide removal in the world, accounting for 80–90% of all purchases ever made — is pausing new CDR purchases. Jack Andreasen Cavanaugh , Director of the Carbon Management Program at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy, published a piece over the weekend arguing...

Episode 62 is with Robert Höglund (Head of Climate Strategy and CDR, Milky Wire; Co-Founder, CDR FYI; CEO, Marginal Carbon). In this episode, host Na’im Merchant catches up with Robert Höglund to discuss his latest thinking on the carbon removal sector’s trajectory. Robert makes the case that CDR needs a narrative shift away from speed and scale, toward prove and learn. They explore why aviation a...

Episode 61 is with Giana Amador (Executive Director, Carbon Removal Alliance), Erin Burns (Executive Director, Carbon180), and Peter Minor (CEO, Absolute Climate). In this inaugural Removers Roundtable episode, host Na’im Merchant sits down with three leaders in the carbon removal space: Giana Amador (Executive Director, Carbon Removal Alliance ), Erin Burns (Executive Director, Carbon180 ), and P...

Episode 60 is a special ask me anything style episode with Na’im Merchant and Rahima Dosani In this annual “flip the script” episode of The Carbon Curve, Na’im is back in the hot seat as his wife Rahima Dosani interviews him AMA-style to reflect on the past year in carbon removal and life outside of work. The conversation starts with personal (and intentionally uncomfortable) questions—turning 40,...

Episode 59 is with Rory Brown, Co-Founder & CEO at Airhive In this episode, Na’im speaks with Rory about his journey into carbon removal technology with a focus on direct air capture (DAC). Other major themes include the importance of financing, the policy landscape for carbon removal in different regions, and the need for transparency about DAC costs. In this episode, Na’im and Rory discuss: * Ro...

Episode 58 is with Marc Roston (Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy) and Peter Minor (Absolute Climate) This episode features Marc Roston , senior research scholar at Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy, and Peter Minor , co-founder of Absolute Climate. They explore fundamental flaws undermining voluntary carbon markets, focusing on how carbon credits are accounted and valued. Mark expla...

Episode 57 is with Adam Fraser, CEO of Terraset. In this episode, Na’im speaks with Adam Frase r about Terraset , an innovative nonprofit dedicated to removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. They discuss Adam's background in sports journalism and his transition to climate action. They highlight the unique approaches Terraset uses to fund carbon removal, including a recently launched revolvi...

Episode 56 is with Jonathan Rhone and Natalie Khtikian, co-founders of CO280. In this episode, Na’im speaks with Jonathan and Natalie about their groundbreaking work in large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects, specifically in partnership with pulp and paper companies. They discuss their innovative approach to carbon removal by partnering with pulp and paper companies. They highlight the...

Episode 55 is with Will Kain, Founder & CEO of Avnos In this episode, Na’im speaks with Will Kain about the advancement and commercialization of hybrid direct air capture (HDAC) technology at Avnos . The conversation also covers Will’s journey into the climate tech space, the unique hybrid DAC approach and the resource-efficient and cost-effective benefits of HDAC, as well as the challenges of sca...

Episode 54 is with Shantanu Agrawal, Founder and CEO of Mati Carbon and Nikki Batchelor, Executive Director for the $100M Carbon Removal XPRIZE. In this episode, Na’im delves into the groundbreaking achievements in carbon removal led by Mati Carbon and the XPRIZE Carbon Dioxide Removal Competition . Shantanu Aggarwal, CEO of Mati Carbon, discusses winning the $50 million grand prize of the XPRIZE...

Episode 53 is a Special Episode with Ed Whittingham of Advance Climate Solutions and Grégoire Baillargeon , President of BMO Québec and Vice Chair of BMO Capital Markets. In this special live episode of The Carbon Curve, Na’im is joined by Ed Whittingham of Advance Climate Solutions and host of the Energy vs. Climate podcast and Grégoire Baillargeon , President of BMO Quebec, Vice Chair of BMO Cap...

Episode 52 is a special joint episode with Plan Sea host Anna Madlener and Lennart Bach, Associate Professor and ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) scientist at the University of Tasmania . In this episode, Na’im joins Anna Madlener for a special co-hosted episode between Plan Sea and The Carbon Curve, recorded live at the Carbon to Sea 2025 Annual Convening . Anna and Na’im speak with Lennart Bac...

Episode 51 is with Erin Burns, Executive Director of Carbon180. This episode highlights the critical need for long-term strategies and adaptability in carbon removal policies amidst changing political landscapes. Key takeaways include the importance of making carbon removal efforts tangible and real for policymakers by emphasizing measurable impacts and local benefits, the necessity of building br...

Episode 50 is a special AMA style episode with Na’im Merchant and Rahima Dosani In this special “ask me anything” episode of the Carbon Curve podcast, the tables are turned and Na’im is interviewed by his wife, Rahima Dosani, to discuss the past year's accomplishments and challenges, as well as future plans for 2025 in the carbon removal space. With Na’im leading Carbon Removal Canada, he shares i...

Episode 49 is with Peter Minor (Absolute Climate) and Travis Caddy (Evident) Despite all of the recent progress to integrate carbon removal in carbon markets globally, a significant problem remains. Existing market mechanisms continue to commoditize carbon removal credits that we haven’t effectively standardized yet. Carbon credits are sold as interchangeable units despite differences in how proje...

Episode 48 is with Senator Colin Deacon, Senate of Canada Independent Senator Colin Deacon was appointed to represent Nova Scotia in the Senate of Canada in June 2018. Senator Deacon shares his vision on how government policy can empower entrepreneurs and encourage investment in carbon removal technologies, and that regulator agility is critical to adapting to the fast evolving needs of carbon rem...

Episode 47 is with Giana Amador, Executive Director at Carbon Removal Alliance Monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) is critical to ensuring carbon removal quality, but what is the role of public policy to enable MRV to deliver on this promise? Giana Amador, Executive Director at Carbon Removal Alliance , describes the catalytic role government can play in supporting MRV standards, fosteri...

Episode 46 is with Josh Albert, Associate Partner with KONU You’ll often hear people say climate is a systems problem, but we in the carbon removal field don’t have a useful framework for driving systems change. In this episode, we explore the complexities of climate change, going beyond single solutions and acknowledging the diverse stakeholders and shifting systems involved. Our guest introduces...

Episode 45 is with Eli Mitchell-Larson, Co-founder and Chief Scientist at Carbon Gap, and Robert Höglund, Co-founder of CDR.fyi and Fund Manager at Milkywire. Today Na’im speaks with Eli and Robert about their latest publication titled “ All excess emissions must be removed ” , which argues for the central role of carbon removal (CDR) to address the global carbon debt, especially among historicall...

Episode 44 is with Jim Mann, Founder and CEO of UNDO A few weeks ago, Microsoft inked a new 15,000 ton carbon removal deal with UNDO and similar deals with other enhanced rock weathering (ERW) companies. Na’im speaks with Jim Mann, Founder and CEO of UNDO , about the company’s efforts in scaling carbon removal through ERW both in the U.K. and in Canada. In this episode, Na’im and Jim discuss: * Th...

Episode 43 is with Luke Connell and Shannon Sterling As we wrap up Climate Week NYC today, I wanted to share a special episode with the CarbonRun leadership team on their exciting $25M offtake agreement with Frontier Climate - probably the biggest carbon removal news of Climate Week. It even hit the front page of the New York Times . We talk about what they’ve been up to leading to this announceme...

Episode 42 is with Sebastian Manhart, Senior Policy Advisor at Carbonfuture Sebastian Manhart discusses recent carbon dioxide removal (CDR) policies in Europe and the U.S. He points out key policy achievements, compares the EU's and U.S.'s different CDR approaches, and emphasizes the importance as well as the challenges of integrating CDR into compliance markets. He also mentions his own projects...