ABSTRACT

As the international community’s best expression of a collective vision of a desirable future, the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present a framework against which to assess the broader impact of emerging technologies. Implications of technologies and practices for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere (CDR) are not fully understood and have not yet been mapped against the full range of SDGs. CDR is widely seen as necessary to achieve the Paris Agreement’s global goal of limiting warming to 1.5-2°C, yet local geographical, socio-economic, and political interdependencies are often overlooked. This review synthesizes the best available understandings of potential implications of CDR options aiming to complement emissions reductions. It seeks to identify effects on and interactions between specific social, environmental, and policy environments, in which various CDR options could be pursued. Climate change mitigation and co-benefits from CDR could significantly benefit SDGs, yet poorly designed CDR policies could also challenge SDGs. Specific CDR options could generate conflicts over land, water, biomass, or electric power resources, and exclude communities from policy benefits with negative cascading effects for a range of SDGs. In the literature, implications of CDR activities on sustainable development are derived from current pilot activities, inferred from similar practices already operational or model outputs regarding land, energy, or material requirements. Important gaps remain. We identify questions for further disciplinary and inter- or transdisciplinary work strengthening understanding of how CDR could either support or threaten the achievement of the SDGs.

Key policy insights

• CO₂ removal (CDR) appears essential for limiting warming to well below 2°C; such stabilization of global climate is a precondition for at least partially achieving the SDGs.

• CDR options can generate positive and negative local/regional impacts on various SDGs via physical, social, economic, and political channels. None of these options are universally ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

• The scale of implementation of CDR and related impacts are highly dependent on policy design and national planning processes.

• More research is needed to clarify how policy design can allow CDR options to generate synergies between, and prevent harm across, multiple SDGs.

摘要

作为国际社会最佳愿景的最好表达，2015年联合国可持续发展目标（SDG）提出了一个框架，用以评估新兴技术的更广泛影响。去除CO ₂的技术和实践的意义尚未完全了解来自大气层（CDR）的温室气体排放，还没有将其映射到所有可持续发展目标的范围。人们普遍认为，CDR是实现《巴黎协定》将升温限制在1.5-2°C的全球目标所必需的，但人们常常忽略了当地的地理，社会经济和政治相互依存关系。这篇综述综合了有关CDR方案潜在影响的最佳现有理解，旨在补充减排。它试图确定对特定社会，环境和政策环境的影响以及它们之间的相互作用，在这些环境中可以采用各种CDR选项。减缓气候变化影响和CDR带来的共同利益可以使SDG受益匪浅，但设计不当的CDR政策也可能会挑战SDG。具体的CDR选项可能会在土地，水，生物量，或电力资源，并且将社区从一系列可持续发展目标的负面连锁影响中排除在政策利益之外。在文献中，CDR活动对可持续发展的影响是从当前的试点活动中得出的，这些活动是从已经运行的类似做法或关于土地，能源或物质需求的模型输出得出的。重要差距仍然存在。我们为进一步的学科，跨学科或跨学科工作确定了问题，以加深对CDR如何支持或威胁实现SDG的理解。从已经运行的类似做法或关于土地，能源或材料需求的模型输出中推断出。重要差距仍然存在。我们为进一步的学科，跨学科或跨学科工作确定了问题，以加深对CDR如何支持或威胁实现SDG的理解。从已经运行的类似做法或关于土地，能源或材料需求的模型输出中推断出。重要的差距仍然存在。我们为进一步的学科，跨学科或跨学科工作确定了问题，以加深对CDR如何支持或威胁实现SDG的理解。

重要政策见解

• 去除CO ₂（CDR）似乎对于将升温限制在2°C以下非常重要；这种全球气候稳定是至少部分实现可持续发展目标的前提。

• CDR选项可以通过物理，社会，经济和政治渠道对各种SDG产生正面和负面的本地/区域影响。这些选择都不是普遍的“好”或“坏”。

• CDR的实施规模和相关影响在很大程度上取决于政策设计和国家计划流程。

• 需要做更多的研究来阐明策略设计如何允许CDR选项在多个SDG之间产生协同作用并防止跨多个SDG造成损害。