Why should governments care about CDR?
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR)—the durable removal and storage of CO2 from the atmosphere—is now widely recognized as a necessary complement to emissions reductions. For governments, the central question is no longer whether CDR will be needed, but whether public institutions will help shape its development more than they have to-date. But CDR’s policy profile is still in its infancy. For generations, institutions have focused on other types of climate measures–emissions reduction, clean energy conversion, nature based mitigation meaures and adaptation. CDR has not received a comparative level of attention, in part because policy makers assumed the marketplace would figure out how to scale CDR to climate relevant levels. This hasn’t happened, though, and we’re now removing 10,000 times less CDR than needs to be removed by the year 2050. It is incumbent upon governments to bring their centuries of infrastructure building, financing and management skills to bear on this challenge.
This said, picking up this challenge is not a charitable exercise on the part of governments. Engaging effectively in CDR has many advantages for governments:
1. CDR helps control long-term public costs
Climate change is already driving rising government expenditures on disaster response, infrastructure repair, health systems, water management, and ecosystem protection. As warming continues, these costs escalate rapidly. By slowing and eventually stabilizing global temperatures, CDR can help reduce future adaptation burdens and long-term public liabilities, making it a practical tool for fiscal risk management rather than a speculative climate intervention.
2. Governments are essential to scaling CDR responsibly
CDR depends on long-lived infrastructure, environmental safeguards, monitoring, and long-term stewardship—functions that markets alone cannot provide. As with energy systems, transportation networks, water infrastructure, and public health, governments are uniquely positioned to set standards, coordinate deployment, and ensure public accountability. Early public leadership reduces the risk of fragmented or poorly governed deployment later.
3. CDR represents a major economic opportunity
Most credible global energy and climate analyses project CDR to become a trillion-dollar-plus industry by mid-century, supporting millions of skilled jobs across engineering, construction, operations, environmental management, and monitoring. Government engagement helps ensure this growth occurs under clear rules, delivers public value, and contributes to long-term economic resilience rather than short-term speculation.
4. CDR can help protect livelihoods and natural systems
Unchecked warming threatens ecosystems and the industries that depend on them, including fishing, forestry, agriculture, and mining. Well-governed CDR can help repair environmental damage, restore natural systems, and reduce climate volatility over time, supporting the ecological foundations of traditional livelihoods rather than undermining them.
5. CDR strengthens climate policy integrity
CDR does not replace emissions reductions; it addresses legacy emissions and sectors that are difficult to fully decarbonize. All credible pathways to climate stabilization include both. Government involvement ensures CDR complements existing climate commitments and strengthens the durability and credibility of climate policy overall.