Why Isnt Carbon Removal Working? | Ep244: Robert Höglund @CleaningUpPod
Why Isnt Carbon Removal Working? | Ep244: Robert Höglund  @CleaningUpPod
Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich sits down with carbon removal insider Robert Höglund, CEO of Marginal Carbon, co-founder of CDR.fyi and architect of MilkyWire’s Climate Transformation Fund, for a deep dive into what’s working and what’s not in carbon dioxide removal and corporate climate action.

Drawing on five years of hands-on experimentation funding everything from biochar to direct air capture and policy advocacy, Robert challenges the dominant “speed and scale” narrative. Instead, he makes the case for a new phase: prove and learn.

Together, Michael and Robert unpack why the highest-impact climate interventions are often the least measurable, why corporate net-zero targets are more conditional than we admit, and what it will actually take to make carbon removal credible, scalable, and worth paying for.

Links and more:
• Marginal Carbon: Marginal Carbon
• CDR.fyi: https://www.cdr.fyi/
• MilkyWire Climate Transformation Fund: milkywire.com
• Carbon Gap: carbongap.org
• Julio Friedmann on Cleaning Up: youtu.be/DX7k6qnTxE8

Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
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Why Isn't Carbon Removal Working? | Ep244: Robert Höglund

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