The synergistic role of carbon dioxide removal and emission reductions in achieving the Paris Agreement goal

The remaining global carbon budget underscores the urgent need for effective and ambitious climate mitigation measures across diverse sectors to curb greenhouse gas emissions and prevent further exacerbation of global warming, aligning with international agreements such as the Paris Agreement. The role of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) becomes increasingly crucial in this context, though the extent to which this applies as a complementary measure to mitigation actions still requires careful examination and quantitative analysis. In this study, we carry out an assessment contingent upon the intertwined roles of mitigation actions and the levels of CDR deployment. We develop sectoral emission reduction assumptions and a broad portfolio of CDR archetypes and deployment levels to evaluate their impacts on the intricate climate-land-energy nexus, and global warming temperature. We find that high levels of CDR permit the continual consumption of fossil fuels, though driving substantial renewable energy consumption post-mid-century. We also observe that high levels of CDR negatively impact sustainability factors, such as reduction in agricultural farmland. We observe that the largest share of CDR is in agricultural soil carbon, with its proportion ranging between 27.4 % and 31.3 % across all scenarios. In conclusion, though CDR is what put the 'net' in the 'net-zero emissions' goal, they are not a silver bullet but rather a crucial piece in the complex puzzle of climate action. We recommend that CDR should be strategically deployed as complementary options to emission reduction efforts, as this paves the way towards a sustainable and balanced approach to achieving our global climate objectives.