S4 #5 | Public Perceptions Deep Dive - Part 1: What Publics Really Think of CDR

Tom and Emily kick off a brand-new three-part miniseries on how people understand (and misunderstand) carbon removal - and what that means for the future of the sector. From the words we choose to the baggage they carry, from early “sci-fi” scepticism to today’s governance debates, this episode unpacks why public perceptions aren’t a side issue: they’re central to whether CDR can scale at all.

In this episode:

🧠 Low Awareness, High Stakes: We look at why knowledge of CDR remains tiny - and yet how support rises sharply once people actually learn what it is.

📜 Early CDR Was… Science Fiction: Back in the noughties, carbon removal felt like aviation before the Wright brothers. But have we caught up?

🗣️ The Language Trap: “Ocean acidification”, “nature-based”, “engineered”: the words we choose shape the reactions we get. We hear why analogies can mislead, why metaphors can create false binaries, and why the “natural = good” instinct is more complicated than it looks.

🌏 When Context Changes Everything: From smallholders in Malaysia to farmers in Cornwall, public perceptions aren’t static - they’re contextual.

🏛️ Governance Isn’t Background Noise: We learn that CDR isn’t just hardware. Change the governance model, and you change the public response. People don’t just ask “what is CDR?”; they ask “who’s in charge?”

🔍 Before We Scale, We Need Trust: Early impressions matter. And in a landscape primed for misinformation and polarisation, how we communicate now will shape the governance, justice, and legitimacy of CDR for decades to come.

👥 Featuring

Guest insights from:

Dave Addison

Ingrid Sundvor (Carbon Balance Initiative)

Dr. Elspeth Spence (Cardiff University)

Dr. Rob Bellamy (University of Manchester)

Hosts: Tom Previte and Emily Swaddle

Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks