Large-scale carbon dioxide removal under the Paris Agreement: toward a principled approach

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) has been identified as a critical climate mitigation response that raises distinct legal and governance questions under the Paris Agreement. This chapter examines the Paris Agreement commitments and processes that structure the international governance of CDR. In light of the Paris Agreement’s bottom-up approach, this chapter pays particular attention to the manner by which key principles within the Paris Agreement are likely to shape large-scale CDR deployment. CDR presents critical mitigation pathways for realizing the objectives of the Paris Agreement, but the potential scale of CDR poses significant challenges associated with reliance on future removals and with the distribution of the benefits and burdens of CDR deployment. These challenges will require a proactive and collaborative approach to CDR governance. The ability of the Paris Agreement to contribute to these demands is critically assessed with reference to the central governance mechanisms established under the Paris Agreement and elaborated through the Paris Rulebook.