Achieving climate neutrality requires a sensible mix of CDRs

The first nationwide CDR Dialogue (CDR = Carbon Dioxide Removal) kicked off today in Munich. Around 200 stakeholders from the fields of science, business, politics, and education are gathering for three days to lay the groundwork for Germany to effectively implement carbon dioxide removal. The scientists from the CDRterra research program, which investigates land-based CO₂ removal methods and is organizing the event, agree: To achieve the goal of greenhouse gas neutrality, Germany needs CDR and must be able to draw from a portfolio of measures. They caution, however, that CDR cannot replace an ambitious climate policy with significant CO₂ reductions. There is broad scientific consensus that CO₂ removal methods are a key complement to drastic and rapid emissions reductions in order to achieve the net-zero goal. CDRterra is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and coordinated by Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich.

“To combat climate change decisively, we must also rely on technologies for CO₂ capture and storage. That is why we are already supporting research into land-based and marine CO₂ removal methods with approximately 50 million euros,” says Mario Brandenburg, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research, emphasizing the great potential of CO₂ removal. “The findings of the CDRterra research program lay the groundwork for a science-based debate on CDR and will inform discussions in politics and society. I particularly welcome the dialogue with citizens on this future-oriented topic and the ambition to bring this complex subject into schools,” says Brandenburg, thereby underscoring key messages from the BMBF’s opening address at the Deutsches Museum.

“Currently, we emit over 40 billion tons of CO₂ worldwide each year. As a society, we have not yet agreed on how much residual emissions we are willing to tolerate. However, we currently assume that, to achieve net-zero globally, we will need to remove several billion tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Julia Pongratz, CDRterra spokesperson, climate modeler, and head of the Department of Geography at LMU Munich, in her opening remarks at the Deutsches Museum. “However, many people have not even heard of CO₂ removal. Others associate it with great fears, and still others even reject CDR research altogether, as they believe it undermines the motivation to reduce emissions. That is why it is important for scientific findings to find their way directly into society—especially in schools and educational institutions. This way, we can equip the next generation with the knowledge to participate in the discussion and shape the future. With the CDR Dialogue 2023, we are bringing together research, education, business, and politics and taking an important step in this direction.”

CDR Dialogue: A Key Platform for Engaging All Stakeholders in Carbon Dioxide Removal

There are various methods for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—ranging from reforestation and specialized filtration systems to artificial photosynthesis. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, interactions, and competing objectives—for example, with food production. In the CDRterra research program, over 100 scientists are developing a comprehensive evaluation framework for the individual methods. “It is important to examine not only what is technically possible, but also what is socially feasible and desirable,” says Pongratz. “At the CDR Dialogue, we are therefore exploring this topic together with representatives from all sectors of the public. This will ultimately allow us to provide the scientific insights needed to develop a low-risk and sustainable portfolio of CO₂ methods, ensuring that carbon dioxide removal in Germany is socially, economically, and ecologically compatible.”

Statements from other CDRterra experts

Dr. Jessica Strefler, Senior Researcher in Carbon Management, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK):

“Removing CO₂ from the atmosphere will become an integral part of German and European climate policy. The course must be set now to ensure a strategy that is as sustainable and low-risk as possible. Three measures are particularly important: 1. rapid and drastic emissions reductions across all sectors to reduce reliance on CDR in achieving climate goals, 2. comprehensive research and development of a broad portfolio of CO₂ removal methods, as well as the establishment of CO₂ transport infrastructure and geological storage options, 3. the development of concepts for monitoring, reporting, and verifying CO₂ removals, as well as economic incentive systems.”

Matthias Honegger, Head of the CO₂ Removal Division, Perspectives Climate Research, Freiburg:

“Removing CO₂ from the air requires political will. Without policy tools, none of the CO₂ removal measures will be able to reach their full potential. A robust and targeted policy effort is therefore needed to create the necessary financial incentives. These incentives should be able to address both the often very high short-term costs of CDR measures and their long-term scaling—without placing an excessive burden on taxpayers and with a distribution among emitters that is as fair and feasible as possible. There are no easy answers to the question of how, but we must ask it and answer it together.”

Dr. Katrin Geneuss, Director of the CDRterra Education Program and Coordinator of the “el mundo” sustainability program, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich:

“Current issues in climate research—which, like CDR, are complex and have no simple answers—should be addressed in schools in particular. This is because it is there that we reach the generation that will feel the consequences of climate change most acutely and will have to develop and implement solutions across all disciplinary boundaries. It is important that discourse is reflected in these learning environments and that everyone involved in the learning process interacts on an equal footing.”

More about the CDR Dialogue 2023

The CDR Dialogue 2023, organized by the BMBF’s CDRterra research program, serves as a central platform for public discussion on CO₂ removal in Germany.

The event consists of three pillars:

• the “CDR Stakeholder Workshop” to engage non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and associations
• the “CDR Science Workshop” for scientific exchange within the CDRterra research program
• the CDR Education Conference – where teachers and other stakeholders from the education sector work together with researchers to develop ways to optimally integrate CDR into the classroom

Other highlights include a panel discussion featuring representatives from politics, business, and industry associations on the topic “Barriers and Challenges in CO₂ Removal – How Can Germany Make Faster Progress?” as well as presentations by CDRterra researchers as part of the Deutsches Museum’s hybrid lecture series “Science for Everyone.”

Zum Live-Stream der Sendung „Wissenschaft für jedermann“ mit CDRterra am Mittwoch, 11.10.23 von 19.00 – 20.30 Uhr

More Info: CDR-Dialog

About CDRterra

In the CDRterra research program, more than 100 researchers are working on ten collaborative projects to investigate how and to what extent land-based CO₂ removal methods can help mitigate climate change. The goal is to develop a comprehensive evaluation framework for CDR methods and portfolios. This framework is intended to serve as a knowledge base upon which a sensible mix of CO₂ removal methods for Germany can be developed. CDRterra is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with approximately 21 million euros for an initial period of three years. It launched in October 2021 and is coordinated by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU).

The CDRSynTra support and synthesis project synthesizes the results of the research program and develops solutions for knowledge transfer to policymakers, the public, and the scientific community. It also serves as the central interface with the CDRmare research mission, which investigates marine CDR methods.

The CDRSynTra support and synthesis project synthesizes the results of the research program and develops solutions for knowledge transfer to policymakers, the public, and the scientific community. It also serves as the central interface with the CDRmare research mission, which investigates marine CDR methods.

The following institutions are participating: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), University of Bonn, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ), Thünen Institute, University of Hamburg (UH), TechnoCarbon Technologies, Laboratory for Steel and Light Metal Construction (LSL), German Institutes for Textile and Fiber Research (DITF), Geisenheim University, University of Hamburg, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (CAU), Climate Analytics, adelphi research, Perspectives Climate Research, University of Freiburg (UFR), Technical University of Munich (TUM), Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), University of Greifswald, RWTH Aachen University, Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), University of Stuttgart, Technical University of Darmstadt, University of Ulm, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB), Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) – Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon Hamburg, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GEOMAR – Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Senckenberg Nature Research Society (SGN), Deutsches Museum (DM), and Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich.

Press Contact:

Karin Adolph
PR Manager, CDRterra

Telefon: 089 21806594
karin.adolph@lmu.de