Betting on Forests and Soils to Reach Net Zero

Abstract The deployment of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is essential to reach global and national net-zero emissions targets, but little attention has been paid to their practical deployment by countries. Here we conducted a systematic analysis of CDR in 41 national climate strategies submitted to the UNFCCC. We show that enhancing forest and soil carbon sinks are most advocated (40/41) within strategies but only quantified in 12. Residual emissions in 2050 are only quantified in 19/41 strategies and most of these use forests to reach national net-zero targets. Strategies that quantify residual emissions and assess CDR identify national constraints (e.g., wildfire risks for forests and geology for CO2 storage) and highlight the need for international collaboration. Our analysis also identifies that net-zero targets are often poorly described and, in some cases, misleading. Together these findings underline the need for the UNFCCC to urgently strengthen national reporting requirements for 2050.