Even though the science clearly communicates the need for CDR (carbon dioxide removal), the realistic potentials for CDR deployment are not well understood. Traditionally, the need for CDR in reaching climate targets has been defined by the Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) mitigation scenarios, such as those used in the IPCC reports (IPCC AR6 2022). These scenarios represent a ‘target-based’ back-casting approach of cost optimization, where CDR deployment is dependent on the interplay with mitigation technologies and measures over time defining the demand for CDR to meet a certain mitigation target (e.g. 1.5 °C). However, the findings do not necessarily illustrate the responsible potential for CDR, when considering implications for planetary boundaries, land or biomass use, energy systems, environmental pollutants, human health, or public perceptions. All CDR options come with varying environmental externalities, costs, and social implications, thus requiring a multidisciplinary approach for the analysis.

The NEGEM project¹⁵ has taken many of these necessary steps to study the deployment of responsible negative emissions and their contribution to achieving climate neutrality. The aim of the project was to filter the realistic potentials of CDR, when considering various constraints for responsible potentials, and to derive the associated frameworks for realistic deployment (figure 1). To support the responsible deployment of CDR in the EU we discuss some key findings and policy recommendations from the project.