Temporary carbon storage is a risky quick-fix

The document critiques the use of temporary carbon storage as a climate solution, asserting that unless carbon is stored for significantly more than a century, it cannot physically offset the permanent impact of fossil fuel emissions. It argues that such schemes are often driven by economic interests seeking to avoid emission reductions and that they unfairly burden future generations with the risk of carbon release. The author calls for policymakers, particularly in the European Union, to prohibit temporary storage as carbon offsets and establish minimum durability requirements.

• Temporary carbon storage is physically inadequate to offset fossil fuel emissions because the CO2 from burned fossil fuels remains in the atmosphere for centuries, whereas temporary storage often fails to match this timescale. For storage to be physically equivalent to emissions, it would need to last for many thousands of years.
• For temporary storage to provide any supporting role in addressing the climate crisis, the carbon must be kept out of the atmosphere for significantly more than a century, which equates to at least three to five generations. There are currently no effective mechanisms to guarantee or enforce this long-term liability, especially in volatile ecosystems.
• The promotion of temporary carbon storage is driven by economic motives rather than environmental ones, as it allows businesses to dress up climate inaction as cost-effective solutions to avoid reducing their own emissions.
• Policymakers are urged to prohibit the use of temporary carbon storage as carbon offsets and implement minimum storage durability requirements. Specifically, the European Union is advised to close loopholes in the proposed Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) that would allow risky temporary removals to compensate for long-term emissions.

APA

Diab, K. (2023). Temporary carbon storage is a risky quick-fix. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/09/26/temporary-carbon-storage-is-a-risky-quick-fix/

Chicago

Diab, Khaled. Temporary carbon storage is a risky quick-fix. Carbon Market Watch, 2023. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/09/26/temporary-carbon-storage-is-a-risky-quick-fix/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Diab |first1=Khaled |title=Temporary carbon storage is a risky quick-fix |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=26 September 2023 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/09/26/temporary-carbon-storage-is-a-risky-quick-fix/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{diab2023temporary, author = {Diab, Khaled}, title = {{Temporary carbon storage is a risky quick-fix}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/09/26/temporary-carbon-storage-is-a-risky-quick-fix/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }