Planning for the active removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere coupled with storage (CDR), is an integral part of any comprehensive net- zero strategy. This white paper is a guide for decisionmakers to some of the key challenges and opportunities they must consider when engaging with carbon removals.

When to use removals?

The use of carbon removals needs to follow the mitigation hierarchy: the first priority is always to reduce or avoid emissions where possible.

Carbon removal is appropriate if used for one of three purposes: 1. Compensating for emissions that result directly from an actor’s activities but which are difficult or impossible to reduce.

2. Compensating for the Earth’s emissions resulting from climate change itself (and hence indirectly from past or future emissions) 3. For actors with high ambitions and strong leadership, going further – achieving netnegative emissions to address the legacy of past emissions, tackling the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and beginning to restore the climate