To reach net zero greenhouse gases in the U.S. by midcentury, different estimates indicate roughly a billion tonnes of CO2 (1 GtCO2) will need to be removed annually; that's about 19% of the country’s total 2023 greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, scientists estimate that roughly 5-10 GtCO2 across both novel and conventional CDR will need to be removed annually from the atmosphere by 2050 and likely more in subsequent years.

Meeting these climate goals requires:

1. Enacting supportive policies and investments to develop a diverse suite of carbon removal approaches

Federal and state policies, along with private sector investment, can help the U.S. develop and deploy a portfolio of carbon removal solutions. Policies will also be needed to spur demand for the carbon removal that’s being developed and deployed.

  • Federal incentives: Since 2020, the federal government has laid a strong foundation for scaling up carbon removal through billions of dollars in direct investment, tax credits and other types of support. However, some of this is limited to only a subset of CDR approaches. Technology-neutral deployment support would help level the playing field and bolster a more diverse range of CDR approaches and technologies.

     

    While federal funding for CDR on land has increased significantly, funding for marine CDR research and development has not. Marine CDR could potentially remove billions of tons of CO2 per year, but there is significant uncertainty about its efficacy and ecological and social impacts. More funding is needed for research and at-sea testing.

  • State action: At the state level, California is setting carbon removal targets and developing a regulatory framework to achieve them. Other states, like Washington and Massachusetts, are taking steps to include CDR and the governance frameworks to scale it responsibly in their climate planning.
  • Private sector action: Corporations are stepping up, too. A group of companies has committed to more than $1 billion in carbon removal purchases by 2030. Other companies are making individual purchases on the order of hundreds of thousands to millions of tons of CDR.
  • Demand creation: Along with policy to support development of CDR technologies, mechanisms will be needed to create demand in the near and long term. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is kickstarting this with a $35 million pilot purchase prize — the first iteration of government purchase of CDR. This effort will need to be expanded; legislation like the CREST Act and the Federal CDR Leadership Act would do that if passed. In the longer term, regulatory policy may be needed to enable gigaton-scale CDR. 

2. Developing a robust and comprehensive governance framework to ensure responsible carbon removal

Carbon removal approaches must be developed and deployed responsibly so that they benefit the climate while also prioritizing social equity and environmental sustainability. Focus on local impacts is important because the benefit that carbon removal provides — atmospheric clean-up of CO2 — is global, but any negative impacts are likely to be local.

Scaling CDR responsibly involves a range of considerations at both the planning and deployment stages:

Measurable climate benefits

Carbon removal projects must deliver measurable climate benefits that don’t detract from emissions reductions or perpetuate fossil fuel dependence. Responsible CDR should:

  • Adhere to consistent and high-quality MRV: CDR projects must adhere to credible and transparent measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) standards to ensure accountability. Policymakers can work with scientists, the private sector and other groups to develop and implement rigorous and standardized rules.
  • Avoid mitigation deterrence: CDR should only be used as a complement to emissions reductions to compensate for emissions that cannot be reduced. Policies such as separate targets are needed to ensure that CDR is not deployed as a replacement for emissions reduction efforts.
  • Avoid perpetuating fossil-fuel dependence: CDR deployment should prioritize renewable energy sources to power their operations while avoiding perpetuating fossil fuel reliance or extraction.

Human and environmental safety

Protective measures at the policy and project level are crucial to avoid environmental harms from CDR, ensure that resources are used efficiently and sustainably, and protect human health and safety. To protect communities and ecosystems, regulations governing CDR should incorporate measures to:

  • Ensure efficient and sustainable resource use: Projects should minimize use of resources like land, water and energy. They should also ensure any feedstocks used are sustainable and provide real carbon removal based on lifecycle accounting.
  • Avoid environmental harm: Project developers should assess and mitigate any negative environmental impacts and transparently share this information.
  • Protect human health and safety: It is critical to transparently design and operate projects in ways that prioritize the health and safety of workers and local community members. Project developers should develop emergency response plans and provide training.

Community engagement

Public and private sector efforts to work with communities are in progress, but more needs to be done. Three essential elements for effective community engagement include:

  • Acknowledgment of previous harm: Communities being asked to host CDR projects may have experienced negative environmental and health impacts from earlier industrial development. Policy frameworks must include measures to avoid replicating or exacerbating these past harms.
  • Transparency and communication: Project developers should share information about proposed projects openly and early, including expected impacts, risks and benefits.
  • Commitment to shared benefits: Projects should ensure that benefits such as employment or local housing are equitably distributed, with particular attention to communities most affected by historical environmental injustices.
  • Meaningful two-way engagement: Project developers should go beyond securing the “green light” from the communities local to their projects. Effective engagement involves actively partnering with communities to shape project decisions, ensuring their voices influence siting, design, and implementation processes.

By centering responsible governance, these efforts can help avoid perpetuating past harms while ensuring equitable distribution of both benefits and potential impacts from CDR development.