This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: There is a strong national and international commitment to large-scale carbon removal from the atmosphere (Carbon Dioxide Removal, CDR) to achieve climate goals. But how do you do that responsibly?
A study commissioned by the Climate Research Initiative Netherlands (KIN) and led by the University of Twente shows which ecological and social effects and preconditions must be taken into account. The report "What could responsible CDR policy and research look like in the Netherlands? An exploratory report with recommendations for policy and research" resulted from a study carried out by the University of Twente, Delft University of Technology and Deltares.
It explores the possibilities for scaling up carbon removal in the Netherlands. CDR has moved up the political agenda, including in the Dutch government's most recent National Climate Plan. Organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Scientific Climate Council (WKR) argue that large-scale carbon removal is likely to be necessary to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.
This mainly involves removing CO2 emissions that cannot be prevented by reducing emissions at the source (the so-called "overshoot"). Researchers still have many questions about the large-scale application of CDR technologies, especially their potential negative environmental and societal effects. They see a major risk in focusing on broad deployment of carbon removal, which can inadvertently come at the expense of efforts to reduce CO2 emissions themselves (also referred to as "mitigation deterrence").
Another aspect that needs to be examined, according to the researchers, is the heavy demand that CDR can place on land, water, raw materials and the energy supply in a small and densely populated country like the Netherlands. This, in turn, can shift the burden (possibly unfairly) to other regions of the world, for example, through the extraction of necessary raw materials. The researchers conclude that none of the available CDR technologies is currently ready to achieve the desired scale-up in the Netherlands.
To scale up CDR responsibly, the researchers argue, a well-thought-out policy framework is needed in advance. It must address these aspects not only from a technological perspective but also from social, ecological and systems perspectives. This can prevent the cure from being worse than the disease.
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