2 Jun 2026
The new “State of Carbon Dioxide Removal” report shows that the expansion of carbon dioxide removal remains far below what would be required to achieve international climate targets. Researchers at LMU contributed to the analysis.
Global carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is not growing fast enough to meet international climate targets. This is the conclusion of the third edition of the international “State of Carbon Dioxide Removal” report, to which researchers from the Chair of Physical Geography and Land Use Systems at LMU contributed. The report analyzes the current state of global carbon dioxide removal and finds that there is a gap of more than 5 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year by 2050 between current national pledges and pathways consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Emissions reductions remain essential
At the same time, the report emphasizes that reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains the most important climate mitigation measure. Carbon dioxide removal is not intended to replace emissions reductions, but to complement them where emissions are hard to abate.
Currently, around 2.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ are removed from the atmosphere globally each year – almost entirely through land-based measures such as afforestation and reforestation. Technological approaches such as Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS), biochar, or Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) still play only a minor role.
Novel approaches are not scaling fast enough
Clemens Schwingshackl, researcher at the Chair of Physical Geography and Land Use Systems at LMU and co-author of the report, explains that current levels of carbon dioxide removal remain far below the scale required to meet international climate goals.
“Global carbon dioxide removal currently amounts to 2.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year, with more than 99.9 percent coming from afforestation and reforestation. Removals from novel CDR methods, particularly biochar and Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), are growing, but still fall short of previous growth expectations,” says Schwingshackl.
The report describes the period until 2030 as a decisive window. Novel approaches would need to scale up much faster in order to keep the goals of the Paris Agreement within reach.
“To achieve the carbon dioxide removal rates required to meet the 1.5°C and 2°C targets of the Paris Agreement, novel CDR methods will need to be rapidly and extensively scaled up in the coming years,” Schwingshackl adds.
Transparent monitoring of carbon dioxide removal is crucial
Shraddha Gupta, also a researcher at the Chair and co-author of the report, highlights the importance of transparent monitoring of carbon dioxide removal and climate pledges.
“Understanding today’s CDR levels is not only about estimating how much CO₂ is being removed. It is also essential to transparently track whether forest-related commitments are actually leading to real and durable carbon dioxide removals on the ground,” says Gupta.
“Only then can we ensure that countries’ CDR pledges translate into measurable climate outcomes.”
International assessment of carbon dioxide removal
The “State of Carbon Dioxide Removal” report is considered the first independent global assessment of carbon dioxide removal. Contributors include researchers from the University of Oxford, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Maryland, LMU Munich, and other international research institutions.