UPTAKE aims to develop resilient CDR strategies based on strengthened scientific evidence on the social, technological, economic, and environmental characteristics of CDR technologies and their interplay.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is an essential and integral part of the European Climate Law and individual member states’ national climate policies. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recognised CDR as a “necessary element” in keeping global warming well- 2°C and even more essential to stay below 1.5°C. Achieving the European Union’s goal of climate neutrality to offset residual emissions in some sectors and regions and envisioning net-negative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions thereafter require a significant investment in developing and deploying CDR methods in line with the strategies outlined in the European Green Deal. This calls for a comprehensive and integrated appraisal of all the key CDR methods and their interactions.

UPTAKE aims to carry out a systemic and integrated appraisal of a large portfolio of CDR methods and their interactions with decarbonization and sustainability strategies. Ultimately, UPTAKE will propose resilient and implementable strategies for CDR at the European and global levels by taking policy, governance, financial constraints, and distributional (socioeconomic, demographic, geographical, sectoral, and temporal) impacts into account. UPTAKE will achieve this by pursuing three objectives:

I) Comprehensive assessment of individual CDR methods,
II) Systemic integration of CDR into leading modelling frameworks, and
III) Facilitation and acceleration of CDR uptake considering real-world implementability constraints.

The UPTAKE consortium is coordinated by Fondazione Centro Euro-Mediterraneo Sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) and brings together 21 partners with well-established and world-leading expertise in CDR technology assessment, integrated assessment modelling, SSH methods, and climate policy and governance issues.

IIASA will lead WP3 to enhanced the representation of CDR across sectors and regions, and co-lead WP1 about co-design, perceptions of CDR, inclusion, dissemination and outreach. Furthermore, IIASA is providing the MESSAGEix-GLOBIOM framework and it will host the Scenario Explorer for all pathway-related data products of the UPTAKE project.

UPTAKE is a Horizon Europe funded project.