Building a carbon dioxide removal science–policy partnership for southern Africa

Abstract

All IPCC emission scenarios that aim to avoid dangerous climate change require carbon dioxide removal (CDR) negative emissions interventions to steer the planet to a safe climate by the end of the century.1-5 Effective negative CO2 emissions will be required on a scale that matches the order of magnitude of present positive emissions from oil, gas and coal.4-6 For South Africa, this translates to CDR interventions in the order of 0.1–0.5 Gigatons of CO2 per year (GtCO2/year), which at the present carbon price range of USD100 per ton of CO2 would equate to an annual USD10–50 B/year industry, excluding the required infrastructure and skills investments and avoided costs of climate damage.7 CDR is thus a key element of South Africa’s emerging economic development strategy, re-shaping science, mitigation, adaptation and financing policies and investments to strengthen the transition towards and beyond net-zero.8, 9 However, there are as yet very limited relevant governance mechanisms in place, technologies are in their infancy, and the scientific and tertiary training capabilities are largely unprepared to support these developments.10 CDR represents a significant innovation, development and educational opportunity, but only if academic, science and policy (public and business) communities can build consensus on the efficacy and prioritisation of regionally suited selected approaches and coordinate efforts around this key regional–global challenge to avoid dangerous climate change.