Abstract
The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to climate change, and to maintain an average global temperature well below 2°C, with aspirations toward 1.5°C, by means of balancing sources and sinks of greenhouse gas emissions. Following this, the importance of carbon dioxide removal in global emission pathways has been further emphasized, and Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) that capture carbon from the atmosphere and remove it from the system have been put in the spotlight. NETs range from innovative, engineered technologies, to well-known approaches like afforestation/reforestation. These technologies essentially compensate for a shrinking carbon budget coupled with hard-to-abate future emissions, and a historical lack of action. However, none has been deployed at scales close to what is envisioned in emission pathways in line with the Paris Agreement goals. To understand the potential contribution of NETs to meet global emission goals, we need to better understand opportunities and constraints for deploying NETs on a national level. We examine 17 Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), and discuss them in the context of available NETs feasibility assessments. Our mapping shows that most countries include NETs in their long-term strategies, and that enhancement of natural sinks is the most dominating type of NET in these strategies. In line with many feasibility assessments, LT-LEDS focus on technical and biophysical considerations, and neglect socio-cultural dimensions. We suggest that feasibility assessments at the national level need to be more holistic; context-specific and comprehensive in terms of aspects assessed.
Highlights
The 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aims to strengthen the global response to climate change, limiting the increase in global temperature to “well below” 2◦C, with aspirations toward 1.5◦C (United Nations, 2015)
We explore how the feasibility of Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) deployment is operationalized in assessments and analyze NETs coverage in national Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), with an emphasis on how feasibility of NETs is understood, and argue that holistic assessments of NETs deployment at the national level are urgently needed
The general level of detail on how NETs would be deployed is low. Such knowledge will be needed to scale up NETs deployment on a national level and it could be instrumental in bridging the gap between global Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) assessments and action on the ground
Summary
The 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aims to strengthen the global response to climate change, limiting the increase in global temperature to “well below” 2◦C, with aspirations toward 1.5◦C (United Nations, 2015). Feasibility is broken down into several dimensions, ranging from economic, technological, institutional, socio-cultural, ecological, and geophysical, operationalized with accompanying indicators (de Coninck et al, 2018a). Such knowledge will be needed to scale up NETs deployment on a national level and it could be instrumental in bridging the gap between global IAM assessments and action on the ground.
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