Coalition for Negative Emissions launches new report

As it announces its launch, the coalition has also published a new report on the importance of introducing large-scale negative emissions solutions immediately. The report warns that without action to deliver one gigatonne (Gt) of negative emissions globally by 2025 we will fail to keep global warming within the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C.

New solutions will create new jobs

The study highlights that a trio of negative emissions solutions – bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), direct air capture and storage (DACS) and natural climate solutions (NCS), such as storing carbon in farmland – are proven and ‘ready to go’, with each of these capable of delivering at least 1Gt per year of carbon removal, equivalent to more than three times the UK’s annual CO2 emissions. In addition to achieving global climate targets, deploying these solutions at scale could create up to 10 million new jobs worldwide.

Urgent action is needed

However, based on the current pipeline of projects, the coalition research finds the level of negative emissions required by 2025 in the IPCC’s 1.5°C pathway will likely be missed by 80%. It states that investment in negative emissions solutions must increase by 30 times current levels to meet the needs of the 1.5°C pathway.

That is why the Coalition will work to provide policymakers, NGOs and other key stakeholders with a much-needed platform to advance global action to rapidly deploy negative emissions solutions. It has also agreed five key actions that are needed to achieve negative emissions at scale:

  • Develop a widely recognised definition of what constitutes ‘high quality’ negative emissions
  • Create a robust market for negative emissions, and supply-side financing from individual projects
  • Government commitments to national negative emissions targets, in addition to emission reduction targets, combined with interventions to incentivise supply and obligate demand
  • Agree a method for how negative emissions are accounted for and tracked, enabling business to access negative emissions as part of their carbon accounting, creating an incentive for corporates to use a combination of emission reduction and negative emissions
  • Enable global collaboration on negative emissions, to support its development and roll out.

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NFU Deputy President Stuart Roberts said:

“The coalition represents a critically important opportunity for agriculture and the land-based sector to demonstrate our capability to capture carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, store carbon in farmland and couple bioenergy with carbon capture and storage technology – key elements of the NFU’s net zero ambition.
“We look forward to working with the coalition to develop a strong domestic bioenergy supply chain, which is essential to realise GHG removals through the bioeconomy, and in our call for government support through the Environmental Land Management scheme to incentivise on-farm carbon storage in vegetation and soils.”

Will Gardiner, CEO of Drax Group, said:

“Negative emissions solutions are proven and ready to go but in order to play a critical role in tackling the climate crisis, they must be deployed much faster than current projections. The UK, alongside international partners, has a once in a generation opportunity to lead the world in deploying negative emissions solutions – tackling climate change and saving economies billions while creating millions of new green jobs around the world.”

CBI director general Tony Danker said:

“Tackling the climate crisis is a global challenge, demanding cross border cooperation between governments and businesses on an unprecedented scale. Negative emissions technologies are going to play a major role in helping the world decarbonise and businesses are advancing their development at pace. But unless urgent action is taken to support their deployment, we’re on track to miss vital climate targets. We need to raise global ambitions and make this the boldest year of net-zero action yet.”

About the Coalition for Negative Emissions

The Coalition for Negative Emissions (CNE) was formed to support the development of negative emissions technologies globally and includes more than 20 businesses and other organisations from a variety of sectors, including utilities, aviation, banking, energy, and agriculture.

The Coalition aims to build momentum, shape policy, and develop the market for negative emissions globally. It is made up of a diverse range of companies across industries, from landowners and environmental stewards, large users and generators of energy, to technology start-ups and large manufacturers. It works across differing sectors of global economies, but shares a common vision: to develop and deploy negative emissions at a scale that will create genuine impact across the world.