Buck et al. (2024): Racial capitalism’s role in mitigation deterrence from carbon removal
Holly Jean Buck, Nils Markusson, Wim Carton IN: Environmental Science & Policy, 160, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103865
Two major sociopolitical challenges loom over the development of carbon removal. One is mitigation deterrence: that research and deployment of carbon removal could delay mitigation efforts. The other is environmental and climate justice — in particular that carbon removal will be developed in ways that further environmental racism, e.g. for the benefit of interests and groups in the global North while harming overburdened communities of color. A variety of policy measures have been proposed to deal with these challenges, from developing separate targets for emissions and removals to social safeguarding principles and standards. Here, the authors describe how racial capitalism sets up mitigation deterrence, and how mitigation deterrence in turn goes on to perpetuate racial capitalism.