How should carbon removal projects be governed 
In our new paper in Nature Climate Change, we asked 10,852 people in Italy, Norway, the UK, Brazil, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia to judge hypothetical carbon removal projects, varying who implements them, whether local communities or experts are consulted, how profits are handled, and how much carbon is removed.
We find that getting procedural and distributive fairness right is key:
Consulting local communities and scientific experts in the planning of projects was the strongest driver of public support. Procedural fairness needs to be built into carbon removal governance.
Even high removal capacity could not compensate for unfair decision-making or profit distribution. Getting the technology right is not enough.
The public favoured benefit-sharing and not-for-profit models inspired by public utilities, whereas privatized profits attracted the least support. Alternative profit and ownership models are worth exploring.
Paper: https://lnkd.in/ePjZ6HNZ
Policy brief: https://lnkd.in/ePeY6ehm
A huge collaborative effort, with Lucilla Losi, Dr. Christine Merk, Michela Boldrini, Valentina Bosetti, Chad M. Baum, Benjamin Sovacool
Institut des sciences de l’environnement (ISE) - UNIGE, Gouvernance de l’Environnement et Développement Territorial, Département de géographie et environnement de l’Université de Genève, Aarhus BSS - Aarhus University, AU Herning – Aarhus Universitet, iClimate AU, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, CMCC Foundation - Centro Euro Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Università Bocconi, Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability, Bennett Institute for Innovation and Policy Acceleration, UPTAKE, Nature Portfolio