10bn tonnes must be captured from the air every year to limit global heating to 1.7C, says Johan Rockström
Cop30: click here for full Guardian coverage of the climate talks in Brazil
Removing carbon from the atmosphere will be necessary to avoid catastrophic tipping points, one of the world’s leading scientists has warned, as even in the best-case scenario the world will heat by about 1.7C.
Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who is one of the chief scientific advisers to the UN and the Cop30 presidency, said 10bn tonnes of carbon dioxide needed to be removed from the air every year even to limit global heating to 1.7C (3.1F) above preindustrial levels.
To achieve this through technological means, such as direct air capture, would require the construction of the world’s second biggest industry, after oil and gas, and require expenditures of about a trillion dollars a year, scientists said. It would need to be done alongside much more drastic emissions cuts and could also have unintended consequences.
