Drawdown Review

The Drawdown Review 2020 argues that the world can reach Drawdown by the mid-2040s to mid-2060s by scaling existing technologies and practices. The framework categorizes solutions into reducing emission sources, supporting carbon sinks, and improving society. The report emphasizes that the financial benefits of these solutions, with operational savings exceeding implementation costs four to five times over, outweigh the costs of action.

• The world could reach Drawdown as early as the mid-2040s or as late as the 2060s, depending on the level of ambition in scaling existing climate solutions.
• The economic case for climate action is strong, with net operational savings estimated at $95.1–145.5 trillion compared to net implementation costs of $22.5–28.4 trillion.
• Approximately 60% of the 76 assessed solutions either reduce fossil fuel use through efficiency or replace them with alternatives, potentially delivering nearly two-thirds of the emissions reductions needed for Drawdown.
• High-impact solutions that often receive less attention include food waste reduction, plant-rich diets, the management of chemical refrigerants, forest restoration, and access to inclusive education and reproductive healthcare.
• Reaching Drawdown requires a dual approach of bringing emissions to zero while simultaneously supporting nature's biological and chemical processes to absorb and store carbon.
• Under the most ambitious scenario (Scenario 2), CO2-equivalent concentrations would peak at approximately 490 ppm in the mid-2040s, with peak global mean temperature warming around 1.52°C through the 2050s.
• The report identifies several 'accelerators' necessary to scale solutions, including shaping culture, building political power, altering policy and rules, shifting capital, changing behavior, and improving technology.

APA

Project Drawdown (2020). Drawdown Review. https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/TheDrawdownReview%E2%80%932020%E2%80%93Download.pdf

Chicago

Project Drawdown. Drawdown Review. 2020. https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/TheDrawdownReview%E2%80%932020%E2%80%93Download.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Project Drawdown |title=Drawdown Review |date=2020 |url=https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/TheDrawdownReview%E2%80%932020%E2%80%93Download.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{projectdrawdown2020drawdown, author = {{Project Drawdown}}, title = {{Drawdown Review}}, institution = {Project Drawdown}, year = {2020}, url = {https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/TheDrawdownReview%E2%80%932020%E2%80%93Download.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }