carbon-recycling-scheme2

PILLARS

.com

Carbon-recycling may be implemented as an economic chain, starting with the production of: (i) renewable biomass from managed native forests, on private or public lands, or from cultivated forests or crops; or (ii) collection of solid wastes from urban, rural, or industrial activities. The raw carbon feedstocks are processed by means of slow pyrolysis, and the recycled carbon directed to storage (negative emissions) or energetic use (zero emissions). These activities are feasible as conventional businesses, economically and financially sustainable by means of the carbon finance driven by the carbon prices for mitigation actions. The financial attractivity of the carbon-recycling is already favorable at the currently levels of carbon prices recommended by IPCC (WGIII AR6 Report, 2022), and will become much more attractive with the fast learning-curve for the development of technologies and logistics.

.edu

Carbon recycling requires the participation of the individual members of communities, including the urban citizens, rural farmers, forests managers, waste pickers, indigenous people, etc. Individual and collective convincement about ethical attitude towards living nature as the primary source of CO2 removals, and the acknowledgement of principles regarding circularity and responsible consumption, use, and dispensing of all goods containing carbon and other minerals (ethics of the things) need to be learnt and practiced by all participants. The formal and community-based education should be the basis of the carbon-recycling multiplication of practices and concepts. The participation of community entities with their social and cultural background can be a catalyst and sustainer of the process. This makes the connection between the .org and .edu pillars, essential for the gear to turn.

.org

Carbon-recycling is not a proprietary process or route. It is a public domain pathway and chain of actions involving people organized together, starting from their households, farms, communities, up to private companies, and public institutions at local, subnational, national and international levels. The networks will be under leadership of Coordinating Managing Entities – CMEs, responsible for tracking all steps of the operating chain of actions, from the generation of the renewable carbon as source of raw materials, its processing, its registry as tons of recycled CO2, and logistic arrangements up for the final storage (negative emissions) or energetic use (zero emissions). The networks are collectively organized, registered and formally monitored following the rules of UNFCCC carbon market mechanisms (Paris 6.2 and 6.4). 

.R&D

Carbon-recycling uses technologies already tested and available at attractive costs, slow pyrolysis being the core machine. Research and development investments may boost the activities and technologies involved in this disruptive concept with a fast learning-curve, making it compatible with the Paris Agreement’s short and long terms goals for climate mitigation.

.coop

Cooperative approaches to be designed and submitted to the Supervisory Body of the Paris Agreement’s mechanisms 6.2 and 6.4 are the basis for the implementation of the carbon-recycling for quantitative achievements (tangible and auditable carbon credits), allowing for issuance of International Transfers of Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), as per the Glasgow Accords (UNFCCC COP26, 2021).

.PPPs

Public-private-partnerships are the basis and fundamental pre-requisite for the implementation of carbon-recycling operative networks in any country, with recognition by local (community and city), subnational (province) and national governments. The countries’ National Determined Contributions – NDCs are the basis for carbon credits generation and accounting (tons of recycled CO2): the quantitatively measured amounts of emissions reductions (negative emissions or zero emissions) are accounted for in the climate mitigation registry of UNFCCC, either as part of the national contribution of the host country (NDC), or as an International Transfer of Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) to the global markets (formal or voluntary carbon offset programs). 

.INT

The cooperative approaches for carbon-recycling will be preferrable anchored in the formal carbon market mechanisms of the Paris Agreement, therefore under the governance at ‘unfccc.int’. In order to be universally valid, e.g. under the Paris Agreement Paragraph 6.4 market mechanism, which modalities and procedures are set by the Glasgow Accords of 2021, there is also an insertion at the national determined contributions (NDCs) of every countries that are parties to the Paris Agreement. When the NDCs are based on the implementation of national and/or subnational “cap and trade” carbon markets for emissions allowances, the carbon-recycling may also be developed and applied as methodologies pertaining to the national markets, therefore, being also part of the ‘.gov’ agenda of developing and/or developed countries. In that manner, the approaches will be able to generate carbon credits or emissions allowances for the national commitments and/or international transfer of mitigation outcomes (ITMOs). Therefore, the approach is a true connection of community mitigation actions to the international climate change governance: local meets global, being also recognized at regional and national levels of government regulations.