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Don’t deploy negative emissions technologies without ethical analysis

Climate policy advice is being undermined by value-laden choices over risky mitigation strategies, warn Dominic Lenzi and colleagues.
  1. Dominic Lenzi

    1. Dominic Lenzi is a researcher at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany.

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  2. William F. Lamb

    1. William F. Lamb is a researcher at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany.

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  3. Jérôme Hilaire

    1. Jérôme Hilaire is a researcher at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany, and is at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany.

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  4. Martin Kowarsch

    1. Martin Kowarsch is head of scientific assessments, ethics and public policy at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany.

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  5. Jan C. Minx

    1. Jan C. Minx is head of applied sustainability science at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany, and is at the School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, UK.

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Carbon capture project at a power plant

A pilot project in Spremberg, Germany, aims to capture carbon dioxide released from power stations. Credit: Action Press/REX/Shutterstock

In October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release a special report on keeping global temperature rise within 1.5 °C of pre-industrial levels. Governments requested the report at the 2015 Paris climate conference. Policymakers want to know what further steps would be needed to stay well within the 2 °C threshold, above which the risks of climate change become more dangerous.

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Nature 561, 303-305 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06695-5

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