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Careful land allocation for carbon dioxide removal is critical for safeguarding biodiversity

Nature Climate Change volume 16, pages 125–126 (2026)Cite this article

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A spatial assessment of global decarbonization scenarios reveals that land allocated for carbon dioxide removal substantially overlaps with areas of high biodiversity importance. The implications of such overlap depend on location and mode of implementation and demonstrate that careful assessment will be required when implementing decarbonization pathways to safeguard biodiversity.

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Fig. 1: Share of allocated land not available for CDR deployment under strictly enforced biodiversity conservation.

References

  1. Riahi, K. et al. in Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Shukla, P. R. et al.) Ch. 3 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2023). This chapter discusses the role of CDR in decarbonization pathways from the latest IPCC assessment cycle.

  2. Popp, A. et al. Land-use futures in the shared socio-economic pathways. Glob. Environ. Change 42, 331–345 (2017). This study discusses land-use futures for the set of models and scenarios assessed in our study.

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  4. Convention on Biological Diversity. Decision adopted by the conference of the parties to the convention on biological diversity: 15/28. Biodiversity and agriculture. CBD/COP/DEC/15/28 (CBD, 2022). This internationally agreed policy framework outlines biodiversity conservation goals.

  5. Soergel, B. et al. Multiple pathways towards sustainable development goals and climate targets. Environ. Res. Lett. 19, 124009 (2024). This modelling study presents decarbonization pathways that are relatively more aligned with sustainable development goals than previously described pathways.

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Prütz, R. et al. Biodiversity implications of land-intensive carbon dioxide removal. Nat. Clim. Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-026-02557-5 (2026).

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Careful land allocation for carbon dioxide removal is critical for safeguarding biodiversity. Nat. Clim. Chang. 16, 125–126 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-026-02567-3

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