QUNO’s Human Impacts of Climate Change programme published a new briefing paper titled "Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): What is Sustainable and Just?". Written by Dr. Duncan McLaren and Dr. Olaf Corry, two academic experts on environmental law, international politics and geoengineering, this briefing paper is a key resource for understanding the risks of reliance on CDR.  

The paper provides an overview of carbon dioxide removal practices and risks, and evaluates if there are just and sustainable levels for the use of these methods and technologies. It highlights how reliance on CDR is a false solution that delays transformational action to address root causes and reduce emissions at their source. It discusses uncertainties surrounding the prospects of implementing large-scale CDR and the role it could play in threatening biodiversity, human rights and exacerbating water and food scarcity. The paper also outlines a pathway to address the root causes of climate change while avoiding unsafe, unjust and unsustainable technofixes.

This is a critical issue, one increasing in importance as the costs and assumptions associated with CDR are reflected in climate models and governments lay out long term plans that increasingly rely on CDR approaches as opposed to reduction of root causes. This paper fills a crucial information gap by examining the feasibility, effectiveness, safety, sustainability, legality and ethics of CDR implementation.

This report was supported with grant funding from the European Climate Foundation. The publication and any conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the European Climate Foundation. 

Please download a PDF version of the report below.