Equity in allocating carbon dioxide removal quotas
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Pozo, Carlos
Galán-Martín, Ángel
Reiner, David M
Mac Dowell, Niall
Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The first nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement include no mention of the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) necessary to reach the Paris targets, leaving open the question of how and by whom CDR will be delivered. Drawing on existing equity frameworks, we allocate CDR quotas globally according to Responsibility, Capability and Equality principles. These quotas are then assessed in the European Union context by accounting for domestic national capacity of a portfolio of CDR options, including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, reforestation and direct air capture. We find that quotas vary greatly across principles, from 33 to 325 GtCO2 allocated to the European Union, and, due to biophysical limits, only a handful of countries could meet their quotas acting individually. These results support strengthening cross-border cooperation while highlighting the need to urgently deploy CDR options to mitigate the risk of failing to meet the climate targets equitably.
Date Issued
2020-07-01
Date Acceptance
2020-04-24
Citation
Nature Climate Change, 2020, 10 (7), pp.640-646
ISSN
1758-678X
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Start Page
640
End Page
646
Journal / Book Title
Nature Climate Change
Volume
10
Issue
7
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0802-4
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Identifier
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0802-4
Grant Number
NE/P019900/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Physical Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Studies
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
NEGATIVE EMISSIONS
CLIMATE MITIGATION
LAND-USE
CAPTURE
ENERGY
BIOENERGY
STORAGE
CHALLENGE
IMPACTS
CO2
0401 Atmospheric Sciences
0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
0502 Environmental Science and Management
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-06-08