IETA LIVE Carbon Markets – State of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Report: Presentation & Discussion with Market Experts and Practitioners

Organised by IETA

September 17, 2024 – Duration : 1 hr 30 mins

Start time: 07:00 PST; 10:00 EST; 15:00 BST; 16:00 CEST; 22:00 Japan

 RECORDING AVAILABLE HERE.

As part of the IETA LIVE webinar series, IETA’s delighted to host this webinar outlining a global stocktake on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods and reviewing the role of carbon markets in facilitating their deployment.

The webinar draws from the recently published 2^nd edition of “The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal” report, which has rapidly become the go-to document for all things related to carbon removal. The report – prepared by IPCC-lead authors and other academic experts from across the world – explores the various CDR methods and their status, highlights their crucial role in achieving Paris-aligned temperature limitation goals, and considers the pathways, enablers and challenges determining their ability to contribute towards net zero emissions in the second half of this century.

To date, support for CDR has largely stemmed from the voluntary carbon market, primarily through agriculture and forestry-based carbon credits. Interest in novel CDR has boomed in recent years, and developers of a range of methods – including biochar, rock weathering, direct air capture, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and ocean-based removals – have struck significant carbon credit offtake agreements with selective corporate buyers.

Most commentators agree, however, that compliance markets are essential to scale CDR. Yet, policymakers remain anxious about fully integrating CDR into current carbon pricing policies due to concerns over aspects like efficacy, efficiency, durability, reversibility, liability and moral hazards (including so-called mitigation deterrence). An improved understanding of the risks, and effective means to mitigate those risks, is vital before progress can be expected within current policies, including inside the UN’s Article 6.

The webinar will hear from the SoCDR report’s lead author, Steve Smith, on the key messages from the report, and from Injy Johnstone, who led the new chapter on the state of CDR in voluntary carbon markets. Invited market experts and practitioners will then reflect on the presentations and discuss potential future directions and outlooks, as well as questions from the audience.

Moderator

• Paul Zakkour, Founding Director – Carbon Counts

Presenters

Dr. Steve Smith, Executive Director at Oxford Net Zero and CO2RE, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford. Lead author of SoCDR. Former Head of Climate Science at the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Head of Science at the UK Climate Change Committee.

Injy Johnstone, Research Associate in Net-Zero Aligned Offsetting, University of Oxford. Author of VCM section in SoCDR#2 and also co-author of the 2024 Revised Oxford Offsetting Principles. Former analyst at Ministry of Environment, New Zealand.

Business & Experts respondents (Panel post-presentation):

• Georgia Berry, Policy Lead UK and Europe – Patch
• Stephanie La Hoz, Senior Advisor – Adelphi and ICAP Secretariat
• David Ungar, Co-Founder – Carbon Finance Lab and IETA CDR CCUS WG Co-Chair
• David Stead, Director Decarbonization – Hartree Partners