Current understanding of the potential impact of Carbon Dioxide Removal approaches on Sustainable Development Goals in selected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
Knowledge and development of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) approaches in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is limited. This report was written by Fundación Torcuato Di Tella, funded by Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G), and produced in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Euroclima+ Programme, to identify gaps and recommend future actions that countries can consider while they prepare their long-term strategies.
Key findings include:
- Climate change mitigation in Latin America and the Caribbean region efforts are focused on emissions reductions, while consideration of CDR is only just beginning.
- Deployment of large-scale CDR approaches would have regional physical and socio-economic implications, including for efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are insufficiently explored and understood.
- Decisions on the potential development of CDR requires more information about costs, but also about the possible impact on employment and Gross Domestic Product, potential for emissions reduction, as well as consideration of implementation risks, in order to avoid misallocation of resources.
Recommended actions include:
- Assessment of the technical and economic feasibility of CDR approaches should be embedded in the long-term strategies elaborated by LAC countries, including the next generation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
- Collaborative platforms and programmes of work should be established, and additional international climate finance identified to address the need for additional resources.
- More transdisciplinary and geographically diverse research is required on the linkages of large-scale CDR deployment and the delivery of the SDGs, which may include the development of common assessment principles or metrics.
