A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP

The Global CDR Action Network (CDRANet, pronounced see-drah-net) is global partnership between countries, industries and institutions who are working together to create workable global policy for removing carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere at scale. This network is unique and vital in five key respects:

  1. CDRANet is focusing only on removing carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere. There are many important related issues to consider, of course, but the central goal of CDRANet is to develop realistic, sustainable, and immediately actionable CDR policies.
  2. This network is policy focused. Our goal isn’t endless debate, but actual policies than can be used now to start building our global CDR capacity.
  3. We are global. Every country has their own ideas and priorities, but atmospheric CO2 removal is going to require global cooperation and collaboration. This network brings together a wide range of global actors who are willing to work together now and directly.
  4. We are empowered for action. Network delegates are high level representatives of their countries and institutions, in a position of authority to develop policy and not only debate details. And finally,
  5. Our work is ongoing. The network has two main components: ongoing, high-level conversations, and the ongoing work that flows from what this network creates,

OVERSIGHT

CDRANet is managed by the Science Communication Institute (SCI), a US-based 501c3 nonprofit public charity. SCI has extensive experience in international science communication diplomacy, having led the global Open Scholarship Initiative (OSI) alongside UNESCO from 2015-2024. Several oversight and working groups also exist within CDRANet.

process

CDRANet’s work is centered around helping stakeholders succeed by:

  • Converging expertise across disciplines, countries, and sectors
  • Clarifying the policy landscape through the creation of shared frameworks
  • Supporting alignment through coordinated dialogue, and
  • Accelerating action by connecting actors ready to lead and learn together.

SCIENCE-BUILT, DIPLOMACY-LED CIVIC ACTION

CDRANet’s approach aims for immediate and realistic progress on CDR policy through science-built civic action instead of relying on formal diplomatic channels that have not moved with nearly enough speed. There is extensive historical precedent for efforts like this, where scientists, nonprofits, trade groups, and/or businesses work together through diplomatic means to establish new paradigms in human rights, medical research, technology standards, and more. For example, the 1964 Helsinki Declaration, adopted by the World Medical Association—a non-governmental organization representing physicians worldwide—was a landmark document that established a set of ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. This declaration was a crucial milestone in the history of research ethics. CDRANet’s work is along these same lines—a global, multistakeholder effort that codifies a new understanding for where we’re going with CDR, pulling together the advice of all civil society stakeholders and tying this into the policy work of interested businesses and governments.

Also like Helsinki, CDRANet’s Athens Declaration and Policy Framework is a living agreement–not a static declaration, but an adaptable, evolving action plan that ties together other climate policies, fills in gaps, shares data and best practices, maps out in broad strokes what governments should do to help CDR develop, and continuously tracks and shares progress and evolves recommendations over time.

CDRANet will continually engage with the global stakeholder community to enhance this framework, integrate it into existing policies, pilot policies, and work to ensure that we continue to push forward action as a connected network. We’re addressing an urgent global crisis, and we need an agency that can apply continual attention to and pressure on the need to design and carry out practical, sustainable solutions.