Media release

From: Australian Science Media Centre

To reach the Paris Climate targets, we need to remove at least four times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year than our current levels of removal, according to an international report with Australian authors. 

Cutting emissions is the key to limiting climate change, but there is also an urgent need to suck hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere, especially if we want to limit warming to well below 2°C.

The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report shows that just 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide is currently being removed from the atmosphere each year, and most of that is removed through conventional methods such as tree planting. More recently developed methods, including carbon capture and storage, contribute less than 0.1% of the total, the report shows.

Join the Australian and international authors of this new report to hear about the state of carbon dioxide removal (CDR). 

Speakers:

• Professor Gregory Nemet is a co-author of the report and is a Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
• Dr Annette Cowie is a co-author of the report and is a Senior Principal Research Scientist, Climate, in the NSW Department of Primary Industries, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of New England.
• Dr Morgan Edwards is a co-author of the report and an Assistant Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Briefing recording available below