January 19, 2023

The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal

Scaling up Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is an urgent priority if we are to meet the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. Scenarios for limiting warming to well below 2°C involve removing hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the course of the century.

CDR involves capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it durably on land, in the ocean, in geological formations or in usable products. Examples include reforestation, biochar, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS).

For the first time, this new report compiles an estimate of the total amount of CDR currently being deployed around the world. It provides the first comprehensive global assessment of the current state of CDR. 

The report reveals a large gap between how much CDR countries are planning and what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal. It estimates we will need 1300 times more CDR from new technologies on average – and twice as much from trees and soils – to limit temperatures to well below 2°C.

Journalists came to this online briefing to hear from the report’s authors and ask them questions.

Speakers included:

Dr Steve Smith, Executive Director of Oxford Net Zero and CO2RE at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford

Dr Emily Cox, Research Associate at CO2RE, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford

Dr Jan Minx, Head of working group Applied Sustainability Science, Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Germany

The Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of Comments.