Public perceptions

Public perceptions of Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) methods will affect their prospects for scaling up. The public has a stake in GGR – if it should be used, which methods, and how much.

Evidence in the scientific literature on how the public perceives GGR is small, but growing. It finds that awareness is low, but people are generally supportive of research into GGR. Support is dependent on whether certain conditions are met. Valid societal concerns around GGR include its readiness, environmental risks, feasibility, costs, safety, and ethical considerations, among others.

The public perceptions research team at CO₂RE is investigating public values and interests around which GGR methods to develop, how they should be incentivised and how they should be governed. This covers issues around specific GGR methods, as well as broader issues such as mitigation deterrence and the relationship between GGR and other climate interventions.

Public engagement runs as a thread throughout CO₂RE’s research and the team is supporting the development of the evaluation framework (‘social’ theme) and engagement activities as part of the Flexible Fund. The team will support other research teams to involve the public in defining and evaluating their research, for example around sustainable deployment of GGR, economic policies and incentives and business models.

The public perceptions team will deliver the following outputs:

· Mapping of GGR perceptions;

· Deliberative workshops and national surveys on GGR;

· Common approach for Responsible Innovation among the Demonstrator projects;

· Framework for assessing the social readiness of GGR methods.

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