Carbon dioxide removal geoengineering

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) geoengineering, the proposal to counteractanthropogenic climate change by large-scale removal of carbon dioxide fromthe atmosphere, is playing an increasingly prominent role in the modellingthat informs international climate change policy. Most of the modellingfor the 1.5–2°C temperature stabilisation targets of the Paris Agreementassumes that large-scale CDR will start by 2030 and be in full swing by2050. The research, testing and development of CDR technologies neededto support these expectations pose significant challenges for internationaland domestic climate change law. Prominent examples of CDR proposalsinclude bioenergy production with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)and carbon sequestration by ocean fertilisation. Australia has vast land andmarine estates so has a natural advantage to contribute to the research,field-testing and development and implementation of CDR. Despite this,there has been little analysis to date of how Australian law might governCDR research, testing and development. Using case studies of BECCSand ocean fertilisation CDR techniques, this article examines the capacityof current Australian law to govern CDR research. We find that generalenvironmental legislation might provide a basic governance frameworkfor research and field-testing of BECCS and ocean fertilisation, butrecommend that specific laws be developed if CDR is to play a prominentrole in meeting Australia’s international climate change commitments