Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is widely recognized as essential for attaining climate goals. CDR involves capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it for decades to millennia in land, ocean, geological formations, or manufactured products such as biochar. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) included 541 pathways that can limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celcius or 2C, almost all of which involve some degree of CDR
The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal
- The University of Oxford recently launched a report, “The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal,” which is the first-of-its-kind independent scientific assessment tracking the development of CDR globally
- According to the report, over two billion tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2) per year are being removed globally, which is less than the current annual CO2 emissions by fossil fuel and cement sectors (36.6 GtCO2)
- The majority of this CDR (99.9%) comes from conventional sources such as land management, primarily via afforestation and reforestation, and only 0.1% comes from novel CDR methods such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, biochar, and direct air capture with carbon capture and storage
- These novel methods are primarily in the pilot stages of development and there is minimal certainty about their costs, benefits, and hazards, but they do offer more durability for carbon storage than trees and soils
The Importance of Scaling CDR
- Scaling of CDR, also referred to as “negative emissions,” is an effective way to attain the temperature goals set by the Paris Agreement
- The next decade is crucial for novel CDR, as the amount of CDR deployment required in the second half of the century will only be feasible if substantial new deployment occurs in the next ten years
- Despite scientific literature on climate change accounting for fewer than four percent, studies on CDR are expanding exponentially at a rate of roughly 19% per year (1990-2021)
- Innovation in CDR is growing significantly, with governments investing in public research and development and public funding for CDR totalling around $4.1 billion between 2010 and 2022
The Gap in CDR
- The report highlighted a gap between the CDR planned by countries and the amount of CO2 removal required to fulfill the Paris temperature goal
- In 2030, global scenarios that limit warming to 2C or lower indicate additional CDR of 0.96 (0 to 3.4) GtCO2 per year, compared to 2020
- In contrast, countries have pledged an additional 0.1-0.65 GtCO2 by 2030 in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
- Only a handful of countries (53) have employed long-term mitigation strategies and a few (22) among them have CDR in their budget estimates
Synopsis
Carbon dioxide removal is crucial for attaining climate goals and scaling CDR is an effective way to reach the temperature goals set by the Paris Agreement Despite growth in innovation, research and public consciousness, there is still a significant gap in CDR deployment as compared to the amount needed to fulfill the Paris temperature goaThe next decade is crucial for novel CDR methods to be developed and implemented on a larger scale, and for increased focus on CDR governance at the level of individual nations and the European Union as well as multilateral organizations’ recommendations and initiatives.
