
💧 Ocean or marine carbon dioxide removal (#CDR) - such as ocean alkalinity enhancement, coastal blue carbon restoration, or seaweed cultivation - each with the potential to remove up to 0.1-1 gigatonnes of CO2 per year by 2050 according to the World Resources Institute.
International regulation for ocean CDR is not facilitating this scale-up and proving to be contradictory:
📜 In the realm of global environmental governance, the London Convention and Protocol is the key international treaty aimed at safeguarding our oceans and marine life from pollution through the regulation of waste dumping activities.
⚠️ In October last year, the London Protocol parties expressed concern over marine geoengineering activities (here including ocean CDR) which they considered to have “potential for deleterious effects that are widespread, long-lasting or severe” calling for limiting efforts to scientific research only.
🌍 However, this goes in contradiction to Article 3 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hashtag#UNFCCC) which directs countries to adopt “precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent or minimize” climate change. The article goes on to state that, “[w]here there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing such measures.”
🚧 Climate change is already causing serious and irreversible damage. We need to act fast if we are to remove gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere. The lack of a cohesive framework between the London Protocol and discussions under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement highlights a critical gap in global environmental policy which needs to be addressed.
💵 At a national level, the momentum for ocean CDR is already building: the Biden administration recently invested $36 million in ocean CO2 removal R&D and Singapore is set to build the World’s Largest Ocean-Based Carbon Removal Plant to be operational by 2025, signalling the need for clear, collaborative international frameworks.
🤝 It's imperative to work collaboratively to foster a regulatory environment that supports innovation while safeguarding our marine ecosystems thereby enabling governments and policymakers to advance confidently into the future of ocean CDR.
🤔 What do you think? Should we remove roadblocks for ocean CDR or be cautious?
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