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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Review article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Review article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Is Carbon Removal Delaying Emission Reductions?
AU - Carton, Wim
AU - Hougaard, Inge-Merete
AU - Markusson, Nils
AU - Friis Lund, Jens
PY - 2023/7/1
Y1 - 2023/7/1
N2 - Carbon dioxide removal is rapidly becoming a key focus in climate research and politics. This is raising concerns of “moral hazard” or “mitigation deterrence,” that is, the risk that promises of and/or efforts to pursue carbon removal end up reducing or delaying near-term mitigation efforts. Some, however, contest this risk, arguing that it is overstated or lacking evidence. In this review, we explore the reasons behind the disagreement in the literature. We unpack the different ways in which moral hazard/mitigation deterrence (MH/MD) is conceptualized and examine how these conceptualizations inform assessments of MH/MD risks. We find that MH/MD is a commonly recognized feature of modeled mitigation pathways but that conclusions as to the real-world existence of MH/MD diverge on individualistic versus structural approaches to examining it. Individualistic approaches favor narrow conceptualizations of MH/MD, which tend to exclude the wider political-economic contexts in which carbon removal emerges. This exclusion limits the value and relevance of such approaches. We argue for a broader understanding of what counts as evidence of delaying practices and propose a research agenda that complements theoretical accounts of MH/MD with empirical studies of the political-economic structures that may drive mitigation deterrence dynamics. This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Benefits of Mitigation The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance.
AB - Carbon dioxide removal is rapidly becoming a key focus in climate research and politics. This is raising concerns of “moral hazard” or “mitigation deterrence,” that is, the risk that promises of and/or efforts to pursue carbon removal end up reducing or delaying near-term mitigation efforts. Some, however, contest this risk, arguing that it is overstated or lacking evidence. In this review, we explore the reasons behind the disagreement in the literature. We unpack the different ways in which moral hazard/mitigation deterrence (MH/MD) is conceptualized and examine how these conceptualizations inform assessments of MH/MD risks. We find that MH/MD is a commonly recognized feature of modeled mitigation pathways but that conclusions as to the real-world existence of MH/MD diverge on individualistic versus structural approaches to examining it. Individualistic approaches favor narrow conceptualizations of MH/MD, which tend to exclude the wider political-economic contexts in which carbon removal emerges. This exclusion limits the value and relevance of such approaches. We argue for a broader understanding of what counts as evidence of delaying practices and propose a research agenda that complements theoretical accounts of MH/MD with empirical studies of the political-economic structures that may drive mitigation deterrence dynamics. This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Benefits of Mitigation The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance.
KW - carbon removal
KW - climate change mitigation
KW - mitigation deterrence
KW - moral hazard
KW - negative emissions
U2 - 10.1002/wcc.826
DO - 10.1002/wcc.826
M3 - Review article
VL - 14
JO - Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
JF - Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
SN - 1757-7780
IS - 4
M1 - e826
ER -