C2GLearn

Introduction to the governance of
large-scale Carbon Dioxide Removal

This unit aims to offer basic information about large-scale Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) approaches and the need for their governance. The unit seeks to answer the following questions:

  • Why is it important to talk about large-scale CDR and the need for governance now?
  • What are the types of CDR approaches, and what are their potential benefits, risks and governance challenges?
  • What are the key governance gaps? How might these gaps be addressed?

Webinars

This Webinar features two fifteen-minute expert overviews of large-scale CDR approaches, and the governance challenges they raise. It is followed by a half hour moderated Q&A session, during which audience members are invited to submit written questions via the Zoom chat. Speakers include:

Sabine Fuss / Germany

Sabine Fuss is an economist, currently leading a working group at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. She holds a professorship on Sustainable Resource Management and Global Change at Humboldt University of Berlin. Her research interests are in sustainable development, land use change and deep decarbonization with a special focus on Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). She has been an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Lead Author for the Special Report on 1.5°C global warming and serves on the steering committee of the Global Carbon Project.

Claire Fyson / United Kingdom
Claire works between Climate Analytics’ policy, science and diplomacy teams, with a focus on the NDC ambition, carbon dioxide removal and the land-use sector. Claire has provided scientific support to SIDS during negotiations under the UNFCCC and the IPCC. She also contributes to briefings made by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT). In addition to her work on the C2G/Climate Analytics study “Governing  large-scale carbon dioxide removal: are we ready?”, Claire has recently authored a paper on equity considerations and responsibility for CDR. Prior to joining Climate Analytics, she worked at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), where she used emissions data to analyse countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), including how they incorporate land-use, land-use change and forestry. In addition to her scientific background, she has substantial experience in climate and energy policy, having completed a traineeship in the European Commission’s Secretariat General and undertaken research in low carbon energy innovation and renewable energy cost models.
Moderator: Qi Zheng / China
Qi ZHENG has over 8 years of experience working on climate change and development. She is an Outreach Officer at C2G in charge of engaging governments and intergovernmental organisations.

Qi previously worked as programme manager for the UK Committee on Climate Change on a UK-China cooperation on climate risks. Prior to that, she spent 5 years in China working as policy officer on climate change for the British Embassy in Beijing and as campaign officer for Oxfam Hong Kong.

Watch recordings of past webinars

These recordings are also available with interpretation into 中文, Español and Français.

Introduction
Presentations
Q&A (Webinar 1)
Q&A (Webinar 2)

Campfire Chats

This Campfire Chat aimed to provide insights into diverse viewpoints on the governance of large-scale CDR (presented in the webinars above), in a relatively informal, moderated, semi-structured discussion between experts. Audience members were invited to suggest topics via the Zoom chat. Guests included:

Duncan McLaren / United Kingdom

Duncan McLaren is a Professor in Practice and Research Fellow at Lancaster University and a visiting researcher at Linköping University, Sweden. Recent publications in Nature Climate Change and Climatic Change focus on the interactions between greenhouse gas removal and emissions reduction in climate policy. His research interests explore the justice and political implications of novel technologies, including climate engineering, circular economy, and smart-cities, applying lenses adopted and adapted from science and technology studies, moral philosophy and the environmental humanities. He is currently a member of the International Advisory Board of the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation, and previously served as an advisor to the Virgin Earth Challenge, and a member of the UK Energy Research Partnership, the UK Research Councils Energy Programme and the UK Green Fiscal Commission amongst other roles. His PhD, completed in 2017, examined the justice implications of geoengineering. He is also a freelance researcher and writer on issues including justice, sustainability, cities, climate change and energy. In his previous career, Duncan worked as an environmental researcher and campaigner, most recently as Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland from 2003 to 2011.

Sabine Fuss / Germany

Sabine Fuss is an economist, currently leading a working group at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. She holds a professorship on Sustainable Resource Management and Global Change at Humboldt University of Berlin. Her research interests are in sustainable development, land use change and deep decarbonization with a special focus on Caron Dioxide Removal (CDR). She has been an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Lead Author for the Special Report on 1.5°C global warming and serves on the steering committee of the Global Carbon Project.

Stephan Singer / Germany

Dr. Stephan Singer is the Senior Advisor Global Energy Policies for Climate Action Network International.

Singer has spent the last 23 years with WWF Germany, WWF Europe and WWF International. His last role, starting in 2009, was ‘Director Global Energy Policy’.

He has a PhD in soil physics on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in poverished Indian soils. Before joining WWF he was a strong anti-nuclear activist in Germany, a journalist, and he also worked for four years for GIZ in India and Kenya on poverty alleviation with subsistence farming in semi-arid tropics.

Singer has been driving the global move to 100% renewables in WWF for the past few years. He is a strong supporter of a Just and Fair Transition to 100% Renewables in all countries, coupled with significant public and private financial shifts away from fossil fuels and nuclear, towards a much more equitable world.

His work includes providing support and advise to CAN member organisations on renewable energy expansion in all countries, which is a prerequisite to staying below 1.5°C.

Singer is a regular and invited peer-reviewer of the annual IEA World Energy Outlook, a regular CSO reviewer of some of the IPCC work (WG III, mitigation), and chairperson of the Renewable Grid Initiative (RGI) in Europe.

Viktor Jósa / Hungary

Viktor’s experience roots from the youth policy lobby of the UN Climate Change Convention and the World Health Organisation (WHO) with a focus on innovative education and outreach for climate action. 

Throughout his young career he has come across places like the WHO and EU institutions in Brussels working on different approaches to drive the climate action agenda. For this purpose, his activities ranged from supporting ministries with policy analysis of Health Adaptation to Climate Change at WHO to the planning and facilitation of large educational youth events for the European Economic and Social Committee.  

Viktor is not a fan of lecturing, but he is a believer of gamified learning and edutainment – in doing this, he has been continuously partnering with C2G to co-facilitate discussions on the governance of Carbon Dioxide Removal through interactive events.  

He will take part in the Campfire Chat representing the ECOS community and he will focus on approaches to mobilize young people and future generations to participate in the governance of Carbon Dioxide Removal. 

Moderator: Janos Pasztor / Hungary & Switzerland

Janos PasztorJanos Pasztor (a Hungarian and a Swiss citizen) is Senior Fellow of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, and is Executive Director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G).

He has four decades of work experience in the areas of energy, environment, climate change, and sustainable development. Before taking up his current assignment he was UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change in New York under Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Earlier, he was Acting Executive Director for Conservation (2014), and Policy and Science Director (2012-2014), at WWF International. He directed the UNSG’s Climate Change Support Team (2008-2010) and later was Executive Secretary of the UNSG’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (2010-2012). In 2007 he directed the Geneva-based UN Environment Management Group (EMG). During 1993-2006 he worked and over time held many responsibilities at the Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC), initially in Geneva and later in Bonn.

His other assignments included: the Secretariat of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit ’92); Stockholm Environment Institute; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Secretariat of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission); the Beijer Institute; and the World Council of Churches.

He has BSc and MSc degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

 

This recording is also available with interpretation into 中文, Español and Français.

C2G strives to achieve a diversity of views and backgrounds across all its events. To that end, it is always open to feedback and suggestions regarding future participants and topics, to ensure a range of perspectives by sector, gender, race, geography, age and other dimensions. It will not always achieve the necessary diversity in all circumstances due to issues of availability and familiarity, but aims over time to expand the range of contributors able to address its issuessubject to the broad principles outlined in its mission statement.  

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