Making use of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies need not undermine carbon mitigation efforts, as long as policymakers adhere to certain principles, new analysis finds.
Oversight, transparency and quality assurance are among the principles policymakers need to put in place to minimise the "moral hazard" of carbon removal, the report published today by non-governmental organisation Carbon Gap says.
While CDR will be needed alongside rapid and deep greenhouse gas emissions cuts to meet reduction targets under the Paris climate agreement, there is justified concern that CDR might delay or displace the necessary emissions reductions, write Carbon Gap's Sylvain Delerce and Eli Mitchell-Larson, and Marginal Carbon's CDR advisor Robert Hoglund.
As things stand now, the risks of mitigation deterrence are "both unchecked and hindering the deployment of carbon removal", Delerce says. "Concern that removals will undermine climate action is grounded but has led to a paralysing and unproductive debate," adds Mitchell-Larson.
The report therefore advocates a set of 12 principles which could be used by jurisdictions that are now establishing CDR targets, policies and regulations, including the EU.
Carbon Gap recommends that policymakers set separate short and medium-term emissions reduction and CDR deployment targets. Countries without plans for near-term emissions cuts "could be said to be particularly exposed to mitigation deterrence", the study finds, posing "particular cause for concern".
Policymakers should also require like-for-like compensation — fossil fuel emissions, for instance, should be neutralised by high-quality, permanent CDR and not by tree planting. Similarly, biological storage would be advocated for biogenic carbon.
The researchers also suggest that climate targets are set that recognise the limited availability of CDR, and that climate-related claims by companies and other entities be regulated to prevent "greenwashing".
Other recommendations include planning for only a limited volume of removals to be available for meeting net zero targets, and establishing principles for when it is appropriate to use CDR instead of emissions reductions. Policymakers should set targets that avoid or minimise temperature overshoot, and include a country's upstream and downstream emissions.
