The Role of Marine CO2 Removal in Combating Climate Change

February 2025
Citation:
55
ELR 10005
Issue
1
Author
Meghan Gavin, Wil Burns, Douglas Edwards, and Romany Webb

Combating climate change requires not only rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but also removal of significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. CO2 removal (CDR) comes in many different forms, but climate scientists and policymakers are focusing on the potentially important role of large-scale use of emerging ocean-based techniques, often referred to as marine CDR (mCDR). In the United States, mCDR in domestic waters is governed by a patchwork of laws and regulations. There are also major uncertainties concerning regulation of mCDR in the open ocean, where international treaty regimes have struggled to develop coherent rules. On September 30, 2024, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts that explored the issues, challenges, and opportunities for large-scale mCDR deployment. Here, we present a transcript of that discussion, which has been edited for style, clarity, and space considerations.

Meghan Gavin (moderator) is a Partner with Cascadia Law Group. Wil Burns is Founding Co-Director of the Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal at American University and Associate Director of the Environmental Policy and Culture Program at Northwestern University. Douglas Edwards is General Counsel and Head of Operations at Vesta and Adjunct Faculty at Colorado Law. Romany Webb is a Research Scholar at Columbia Law School, Deputy Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, and Adjunct Associate