Governing Carbon Dioxide Removal

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), also known as negative emissions, greenhouse gas removal, or simply carbon removal, is in need of effective governance. If governments are to deliver on the growing number of pledges to meet “net zero” and “net-negative” emissions targets, and if the world is to successfully limit global warming to “well-below 2°C” compared to pre-industrial levels, then carbon dioxide (CO2) will need to be removed from the atmosphere. This is because, at the very least, residual greenhouse gas emissions from hard-to-transition sectors like agriculture will need to be compensated for. Furthermore, if the world were to overshoot 1.5°, CO2 concentrations will need to be brought back down. The central questions for CDR governance therefore no longer concern whether CDR should be pursued, but how; which CDR methods should be pursued, to what extent, when, where, and by whom (Bellamy and Geden, 2019). Despite this, the governance frameworks and democratic processes that will be needed to responsibly incentivize, develop, and sustain CDR remain largely neglected not just by policymakers, but also by much of the academic research community as well.

Spurring demand for CDR not just from multiple policy angles, but also multiple policy scales, will require an approach that minimizes negative trade-offs and identifies potential co-benefits (Cox and Edwards, 2019). Yet uncertainties around CDR effectiveness, technical efficiency, scale, risks, and interactions with other policy objectives—both within and beyond the realm of climate governance—all demand careful consideration (Fridahl et al., 2020). Moreover, effective CDR governance must also contend with conflicting interests and account for diverse and geographically varying societal values and knowledges in relation to technology appraisal and selection, policy instrument choice, and guiding principles (Bellamy, 2018; Bellamy et al., 2021). This Research Topic seeks to address such critical questions around CDR governance as it emerges: how is CDR framed and what are the governance implications? How can we account for societal values and knowledges in CDR governance? How do existing governance regimes relate to CDR and how might they be reformed? What new governance designs are needed? Are existing institutions and systems suitable for governing CDR?