An IKEM study published today examines the regulatory framework for negative emission technologies (NETs) and identifies the national and European instruments that could be used to regulate them in the future.
The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement calls for a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Together with savings in direct emissions, the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is also a means of achieving the long-term temperature targets. In a new study, IKEM focuses on the legal framework for these negative emission technologies.
The main focus of the study is on national and European instruments for regulating NETs and the legal challenges and hurdles associated with negative emissions. Specifically, the use of NETs in the agriculture, forestry, and other land use sectors will be evaluated, including (re)afforestation, renaturation of degraded land, forest management, or rewetting of peatlands. To date, there is no conclusive legal framework in this area.
While application of the already existing legal framework to NETs is by no means precluded, there may be inconsistent or incomplete results in its application. This issue is the main focus of the study, which was commissioned by the office of the Wissenschaftsplattform Klimaschutz (WPKS) at DLR e.V.
