The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C last year painted a stark picture of the planetary crisis. To avoid the most dangerous climate impacts, aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and significant carbon removal are needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit warming to well below 2˚C, with efforts to limit warming to 1.5˚C. In less than 11 years, emissions need to be 45% below 2010 levels if warming is to be limited to 1.5 °C (IPCC 2018). Translated into absolute figures, the world should cut 29-32 Gt of CO2 emission by 2030.
There are various approaches to carbon removal from the atmosphere: from land management approaches to technological options, including carbon management in agricultural soils, forests, and agroforestry; bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS); direct air capture and storage (DACS), etc. (Minx et al. 2018; see Fig 1).
This White Paper was produced by UNREDD Programme, a partnership between the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) for the session at the GLF Investment Case 2019 in Luxembourg.
