Kategorie: Science-Policy Documents

Reports

UNEP: Emissions Gap Report 2023

unep.org, 20 November 2023

As greenhouse gas emissions hit new highs, temperature records tumble and climate impacts intensify, the Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again) finds that the world is heading for a temperature rise far above the Paris Agreement goals unless countries deliver more than they have promised. The report is the 14th edition in a series that brings together many of the world’s top climate scientists to look at future trends in greenhouse gas emissions and provide potential solutions to the challenge of global warming.

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Science-Policy Documents

Verlängerung für Kohle, Öl und Gas

Gerrit Hansen, SWP-Aktuell 2023/A 57, 17.11.2023, 8 Seiten, doi:10.18449/2023A57

„Bei der anstehenden UN-Klimakonferenz in Dubai (COP28) wird erneut um den globa­len Ausstieg aus fossilen Brennstoffen gerungen. Auch in Deutschland und der EU gab es im Vorfeld intensive Debatten zur Positionsfindung. Strittig ist vor allem die Frage, ob global ein Komplettausstieg aus allen fossilen Brennstoffen gefordert wer­den soll – oder nur ein Herunterfahren der ungeminderten Nutzung, also jener ohne zusätzliche Klimaschutzmaßnahmen wie Kohlendioxidabscheidung und -speicherung (Carbon Capture and Storage, CCS). Welche Rolle emissionsreduzierte fossile Energieträger in einer klimaneutralen Wirtschaft haben können, ist sehr umstritten. Lang­fristig ist dies abhängig von einem erfolgreichen Hochlauf von CCS, den dabei er­reichten Abscheideraten und der Verfügbarkeit von Technologien zur CO2-Entnahme aus der Atmosphäre (Carbon Dioxide Removal, CDR), mit der Restemissionen ausge­glichen werden. Bis 2030 ist nicht mit signifikanten Einsparungen von Treibhausgas durch CCS im Stromsektor zu rechnen. Ob in Dubai ein glaubwürdiges Signal für das rasche Absenken fossiler Emissionen gesetzt werden kann, hängt nicht zuletzt an einer klaren und wissenschaftsbasierten Definition, wann von einer emissionsreduzierten Nutzung fossiler Brennstoffe im Einklang mit dem Temperaturziel des Pariser Klimaabkommens die Rede sein kann.“

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Science-Policy Documents

Nemet et al. (2023): Near-term deployment of novel carbon removal to facilitate longer-term deployment

Gregory F. Nemet, Matthew J. Gidden, Jenna Greene, Cameron Roberts, William F. Lamb, Jan C. Minx, Stephen M. Smith, Oliver Geden, Keywan Riahi IN: Joule 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2023.11.001

This commentary shows that the deployment of novel CO2 removal (CDR) over the next decade, its formative phase, is likely to be consequential in determining whether CDR will be available at scale and in time to reach net-zero CO2 emissions consistent with the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal.

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Science-Policy Documents

Nature – Anderson et al. (2023): Controversies of carbon dioxide removal

Kevin Anderson, Holly Jean Buck, Lili Fuhr, Oliver Geden, Glen P. Peters, Eve Tamme IN: Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00493-y

Various methods of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) are being pursued in response to the climate crisis, but they are mostly not proven at scale. Climate experts are divided over whether CDR is a necessary requirement or a dangerous distraction from limiting emissions. In this Viewpoint, six experts offer their views on the CDR debate.

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Science-Policy Documents

Poliy Brief: Carbon Capture and Storage in the global climate debate

German Environment Agency, 15. November 2023

This policy brief refers mainly to the German Environment Agency’s position paper on CCS in the national context and provides further thoughts on the international perspective. -> https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/carbon-capture-storage-diskussionsbeitrag

„In light of the overall picture, we suggest that the limited potential of storage facilities and resources should be reserved exclusively for absolutely unavoidable emissions, explicitly excluding fossil emissions. Especially because CCS will become indispensable as a part of negative emission technologies, climate talks should focus on this role of CCS alone, and foster cooperation on the requirements for transport, storage safety and monitoring. In order to establish a test case that serves this purpose, CCS for thermal waste treating plants seems to be a feasible and relevant pilot scheme. Waste+CCS (WACCS) would sequester emissions that are hard to abate at the end of a long value chain with the potential to achieve negative emissions in the future. Noting that not all countries operate these plants to the same extent, we would like to encourage dialogue and joint discussion of specific strategies for testing such CCS-pilot projects, addressing the following challenges and risks.“

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German News

Klimaretter Ozean? Wie das Meer (noch) mehr Kohlendioxid aufnehmen soll

Heute ist der achte World Ocean Review (WOR Nr. 8) „Klimaretter Ozean? Wie das Meer (noch) mehr Kohlendioxid aufnehmen soll“ erschienen! Der WOR erläutert die Rolle des Ozeans im Kohlenstoffkreislauf der Erde und stellt Vorteile, Risiken und Wissenslücken zu den wichtigsten meeresbasierten Verfahren zur Kohlendioxid-Entnahme (mCDR) vor.

Dieser WOR sowie andere vorherige Ausgaben können kostenlos bestellt und heruntergeladen werden. Er erscheint alle zwei Jahre in deutscher und englischer Sprache und wird weltweit von Interessierten aus Politik, Wirtschaft und Zivilgesellschaft gelesen. Er liefert aktuelles Hintergrundwissen zu relevanten Meeresthemen und richtet sich an alle, die in Sachen Meeresschutz und -nutzung mitreden wollen. Herausgeber ist die maribus gGmbH.

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Science-Policy Documents

Policy Brief: Blue Carbon: Challenges and opportunities to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crises

European Marine Board, marineboard.eu, November 2023

Blue Carbon ecosystems are a Nature-based Solution that can help mitigate the climate and biodiversity crises, while stabilising livelihoods, protecting coasts, and supporting other societal needs such as food security from the Ocean. EMB Policy Brief No. 11 describes different types and benefits of Blue Carbon ecosystems, and discusses uncertainties and challenges for the conservation and restoration of Blue Carbon ecosystems as a climate change solution. The document also highlights the wider role of the Ocean in mitigating climate change through the carbon cycle, and closes with key research and management recommendations.

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Science-Policy Documents

Edenhofer et al. (2023): On the Governance of Carbon Dioxide Removal – A Public Economics Perspective

Ottmar Edenhofer, Max Franks, Matthias Kalkuhl, Artur Runge-Metzger; CESifo Working Paper No. 10370

This working paper highlights the importance of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies for climate policy. The authors first describe their role in iconic transformation pathways and discuss removal costs and storage duration of different technologies. Based on economic principles, the authors characterize optimal removal flows and reservoirs for non-permanent removals. Furthermore, they discuss different pricing regimes that achieve an optimal allocation under different information and liability conditions.

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Reports

Road map: A Comprehensive Program to Prove or Disprove Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies by 2030

Ocean Visions’ new high level road map outlines a comprehensive program to advance the science, technology, and policy priorities needed to rigorously evaluate mCDR. This is their thesis about what needs to happen by 2030 in order to generate the base of information that justifies scaling and deploying mCDR pathways as climate solutions, or shutting down investment in pathways unable to demonstrate effective and safe CDR. In short, this road map centers around three interconnected pillars of needed investment and work:

  • Doing the science and engineering at the appropriate scales to answer important outstanding questions about mCDR technologies.
  • Development of enabling environments that allow for accelerated research and development.
  • Improvement and optimization of mCDR technologies to increase their potential to achieve climate-relevant scale and impact. 

The road map serves as a starting point to coordinate and integrate diverse global actors and actions, advance the necessary pieces, and create synergies among and coordination between various efforts. It is intended to be a living document which will be routinely updated.

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German News

Policy Brief: Wer mitreden will, sollte diese Begriffe kennen

CDRterra Policy Brief, November 2023

Was ist CDR und wo liegt der Unterschied zu CCS? Wie erreichen wir Treibhausgasneutralität? Und was sind überhaupt Restemissionen? Um in der Debatte um die CO2-Entnahme mitreden zu können, muss man viele komplizierte Begriffe und Sachverhalte kennen und verstehen. Der neue Policy Brief von der deutschen Forschungsmission CDRterra klärt über Kernkonzepte auf und macht politische Entscheidungstragende, Journalist:innen und weitere Interessierte fit für die Diskussion rund um das komplexe Thema Carbon Dioxide Removal.

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