Foundational Questions on Carbon Removal in the United States

The document argues that carbon removal is necessary to meet Paris Agreement temperature targets, as emissions reductions alone are insufficient. It advocates for a portfolio-based approach to carbon removal technologies to manage uncertainty and risks, emphasizing the need for effective governance and safeguards to prevent the displacement of food production or ecosystem loss.

• Global emissions pathways indicate that emissions reduction measures alone are insufficient to meet Paris Agreement temperature targets; achieving these goals requires removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a gigaton scale, meaning billions of metric tons annually on a global basis.
• Because the full potential of individual carbon removal technologies remains uncertain and each faces specific limitations and pitfalls, a portfolio-based approach is recommended to increase the likelihood of achieving large-scale removal benchmarks.
• Carbon removal presents a trade-off between potential benefits, such as improved soil health and new industry creation, and risks, including the loss of natural ecosystems or the displacement of food production, necessitating effective policy safeguards and monitoring.
• There is a debate regarding whether carbon removal detracts from emissions reduction efforts by diverting resources or justifying delays, or whether it expands the climate policy agenda by attracting new stakeholders and resources.
• Achieving carbon neutrality in the second half of the century is necessary for Paris Agreement targets; without carbon removal, this would require the total elimination of all emissions, including from hard-to-decarbonize sectors like aviation.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Foundational Questions on Carbon Removal in the United States. https://www.wri.org/research/foundational-questions-carbon-removal-united-states

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Foundational Questions on Carbon Removal in the United States. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/foundational-questions-carbon-removal-united-states.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Foundational Questions on Carbon Removal in the United States |url=https://www.wri.org/research/foundational-questions-carbon-removal-united-states |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendfoundational, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Foundational Questions on Carbon Removal in the United States}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/foundational-questions-carbon-removal-united-states}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }