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C2G Evidence Brief: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Its Governance

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C2G Evidence Brief: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Its Governance Carnegie Climate EVIDENCE BRIEF Governance Initiative Carbon Dioxide Removal An initiative of and its Governance 2 March 2021 Summary This briefing summarises the latest evidence relating to Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) techniques and their governance. It describes a range of techniques currently under consideration, exploring their technical readiness, current research, applicable governance frameworks, and other socio-political considerations in section I. It also provides an overview of some generic CDR governance issues and the key instruments relevant for the governance of CDR in section II. About C2G The Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G) seeks to catalyse the creation of effective governance for climate-altering approaches, in particular for solar radiation modification (SRM) and large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR). In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reaffirmed that large-scale CDR is required in all pathways to limit global warming to 1.5°C with limited or no overshoot. Some scientists say SRM may also be needed to avoid that overshoot. C2G is impartial regarding the potential use of specific approaches, but not on the need for their governance - which includes multiple, diverse processes of learning, discussion and decision-making, involving all sectors of society. It is not C2G’s role to influence the outcome of these processes, but to raise awareness of the critical governance questions that underpin CDR and SRM. C2G’s mission will have been achieved once their governance is taken on board by governments and intergovernmental bodies, including awareness raising, knowledge generation, and facilitating collaboration. C2G has prepared several other briefs exploring various CDR and SRM technologies and associated issues. These are available on our website. c2g2.net | [email protected] Evidence Brief: Carbon Dioxide Removal and its Governance Table of Contents Introduction ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3 SECTION I: CDR Techniques Overview �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4 Introduction ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 4 Afforestation and reforestation �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7 Artificial downwelling ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 10 Artificial upwelling �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11 Biochar production and deposition ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 13 Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 15 Building with biomass . 17 Carbon sequestration in soils ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 19 Crop residue oceanic carbon sequestration . 21 Direct air carbon dioxide capture & storage (DACCS) ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 23 Enhancing ocean alkalinity �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 27 Enhanced terrestrial weathering ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29 Macroalgal cultivation for sequestration �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31 Ocean carbon capture and storage (OCCS) �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33 Ocean fertilisation with iron . 34 Ocean fertilisation with macro-nutrients, nitrogen, and phosphorus . 35 Restoring wetlands, peatlands and coastal habitats �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37 SECTION II: Governance . 41 Introduction ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 41 Research governance . 41 Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) . 42 ‘Moral hazard’ or ‘mitigation deterrence’ �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 43 Risk-risk trade-offs . 43 Incentives �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 44 Sequestration and permanency ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 44 Other remaining governance challenges �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 44 International law and frameworks �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 45 Customary International Law ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 45 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ������������������������������������������ 47 The Paris Agreement . 48 The Kyoto Protocol ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 49 The United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 49 The London Convention and Protocol . 50 The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) . 51 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ���������������������������������������������������������� 52 Other fora ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 53 Publics and their role in governance �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 53 Conclusions ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������53 References . 54 Page 2 Evidence Brief: Carbon Dioxide Removal and its Governance Introduction CDR is defined by the IPCC as ‘Anthropogenic activities removing CO2 from the atmosphere and durably storing it in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products. It includes existing and potential anthropogenic enhancement of biological or geochemical sinks and direct air capture and storage, but excludes natural CO2 uptake not directly caused by human activities’ (p544, IPCC, 2018). CDR is also known as carbon removal or carbon drawdown. Negative Emissions Technologies (NETS) and Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) are terms that encompass CDR, but which also include other greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as methane. It should be noted that there are currently no well-developed methods for removal of non-CO2 GHGs. CDR, if ever implemented at large scale is expected to have climate cooling effects. In such circumstances, they are described as climate-altering techniques, climate engineering or geoengineering. Four years after the Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force, recognition is growing that without a rapid acceleration in action, limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius (°C) will not be possible. Progress towards achieving the Paris Agreement goals has been slow. Rather than fall, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions have only risen, hitting a new high of 55.3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2018 (UNEP, 2019). Even if all the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement were implemented, the Earth is still expected to warm by 3.0°C by the end of the century (range 3.0–3.5°C with 66% probability) (UNEP, 2020). The collective failure to adequately respond to global warming is reflected in the emission pathways in the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (IPCC, 2018). These all require the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere using CDR, if warming is to be limited to 1.5°C. These scenarios indicate the need to remove up to 1,000 billion tonnes (Gigatons, or 1,000 Gt) of CO2 by the year 2100, demonstrating the necessity of rapid and unprecedented action. It is in this context that CDR options are increasingly being proposed (UNEP, 2019). This briefing encompasses all the main CDR techniques covered in the scientific literature, presenting them in alphabetical order. It describes techniques currently under consideration and explores their relative strengths and weaknesses. Current applicable governance frameworks are examined and other socio-political issues pertinent to these large-scale interventions are explored. Knowledge gaps about the techniques discussed still require further research, governance dialogue and decision making, even though some are already being deployed, although not at scales capable of delivering climate scale impacts. C2G has no position on the appropriateness of any of the techniques described here; it seeks only to catalyse the creation of effective governance by providing this impartial overview. The briefing is not
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