ABSTRACT

This paper is a report on the viability, both technical and ethical, of negative emissions technologies (NETs) in climate change mitigation. Given present levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, NETs are almost certainly required in order to avoid the most serious consequences of anthropogenic carbonization. Critics argue that we should not rely on the promise of future NETs because that could be taken as an excuse to avoid decarbonization in the near term. The concern is genuine, but if the prima facie arguments for drawing down carbon as soon as possible are correct, ways must be found to counter the incentives to defer the immediate deployment of NETs and other forms of mitigation. A policy instrument is sketched which could help accomplish that task.

摘要

本文是一份关于负排放技术 (NET) 在减缓气候变化中的技术和伦理可行性的报告。鉴于目前大气中的二氧化碳水平，几乎可以肯定需要 NET 以避免人为碳化的最严重后果。批评者认为，我们不应依赖未来 NET 的承诺，因为这可能会被视为避免近期脱碳的借口。这种担忧是真实的，但如果关于尽快减少碳排放的初步证据是正确的，则必须找到方法来对抗推迟立即部署 NET 和其他形式的减排措施的动机。拟定了一个有助于完成这项任务的政策工具。