Carbon dioxide removal (CDR)

Carbon dioxide removal encompasses deliberate technologies, practices, and approaches that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and durably store it in reservoirs such as vegetation, soils, geological formations, oceans, or in products. These approaches include biological sequestration (such as afforestation, soil carbon storage, biomass burial), mechanical/chemical processes (such as direct air capture and mineralization), and hybrid methods. CDR is an essential part of climate change mitigation strategies, complementing reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, with roles in counterbalancing emissions that are difficult to eliminate and enabling progress toward net zero climate goals. CDR should not be confused with molecular targets (receptors, enzymes, etc.), and instead is best understood as a set of processes and technologies for atmospheric CO₂ management.

Other names

Carbon removalGreenhouse gas removalNegative emissions

Biological carbon sequestration (e.g., photosynthesis, biomass burial, soil carbon storage); Mechanical/chemical capture (e.g., direct air capture, mineralization, ocean-based approaches)