This white paper examines how integrated assessment models (IAMs) represent carbon removal and outlines implications for policy, investment, and the design of credible net-zero strategies in global and regional contexts.

Key takeaways:

• IAMs inform climate policy but have historically underrepresented the diversity of carbon removal approaches

• This narrower representation of carbon removal risks distorting pathways and weakening policy commitments

• Expanding carbon removal representation and grounding models in real-world data is critical to designing impactful net-zero plans