As global temperatures continue their upward trajectory and the carbon budget for limiting warming to 1.5°C rapidly diminishes, Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) has emerged as an indispensable component of global climate action, complementing aggressive emissions reductions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) unequivocally states that gigaton-scale CDR deployment is imperative by mid-century to address both unavoidable residual emissions and the substantial volume of legacy carbon already accumulated in the atmosphere, underscoring its market significance for achieving net-zero targets.

While promising approaches such as Direct Air Capture (DAC), Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), enhanced mineralization, and various ocean-based removal techniques offer significant potential, their large-scale real-world deployment presents complex challenges. These include substantial energy demand, extensive land use requirements, intricate governance structures, and critical considerations of environmental justice. Without meticulously integrated planning, there is a tangible risk that CDR initiatives could inadvertently divert focus from essential emissions reductions or, worse, exacerbate existing inequities and environmental harms, particularly impacting frontline and Global South communities.

In response to these urgent considerations, a new collection of research aims to advance CDR science and practice by spotlighting studies that explicitly link carbon removal with broader systems-level decarbonization strategies, circular resource utilization, and just climate transitions. This initiative emphasizes interdisciplinary innovation, the development of actionable frameworks, and the identification of equity-informed pathways necessary for scaling durable carbon removal solutions responsibly and effectively.

Key research themes invited for submission include the innovative coupling of CDR technologies with renewable energy systems, exploring co-location strategies and lifecycle integration across marine and terrestrial domains. The collection also delves into sustainable biomass utilization with carbon capture, analyzing the critical tradeoffs across land use, food security, energy production, and carbon objectives. Furthermore, it addresses the integration of CDR into urban and regional climate planning, examining applications within urban green infrastructure, land-use planning tools, and policy design, with a particular focus on case studies from the Global South.

Crucially, the collection seeks to advance policy, market, and equity frameworks, investigating enabling governance structures, implications under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, mechanisms for market transparency, the necessity of community consent, and equitable benefit-sharing models. Finally, it explores the role of digital and emerging technologies for scalable CDR, including the application of AI/ML for system optimization, innovations in Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV), and the use of digital twins and advanced modeling tools for dynamic facility design and deployment. This comprehensive approach ensures that CDR deployment is not only technically feasible but also socially equitable and environmentally sound.