Royal Society urges more research to meet climate target

Developing sustainable ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will be vital for limiting global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, the Royal Society has said.

In its report, Keeping Global Warming to 1.5°C: Challenges and opportunities for the UK, published on 22 November, the scientific academy warns that biological carbon storage methods such as afforestation are likely to become saturated within a few decades. 

As a result, R&D on sustainable carbon dioxide removal methods in the longer term will be essential, the society says. It calls for a flexible, mixed system of such methods to help meet targets and to lessen the environmental stress resulting from the overuse of a single approach.