Governments and businesses are relying on dangerous amounts of future removal of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) from the atmosphere instead of faster reduction of emissions and gradual phasing out of fossil fuels. This problem is due in part to an incomplete picture of the harmful consequences of carbon dioxide removal for people, food security and natural ecosystems, according to new research published in Science.

The paper found that the potential  removal of carbon dioxide , currently reported by the UN's climate assessment body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), significantly overestimates how difficult carbon dioxide removal, specifically carbon capture and storage bioenergy and tree-planting, can be safely accomplished in meeting climate goals.

The IPCC works by synthesizing the best available literature at the time of writing and publishing its reports. (University of Melbourne)