By Korey Silverman-Roati and Romany M. Webb
The Sabin Center today released the second in a series of white papers discussing legal issues associated with different ocean-based carbon dioxide removal techniques. Today’s paper focuses on seaweed cultivation—i.e., the growing of kelp and other macroalgae which may be harvested for food,
bioenergy, or other uses or sunk in the ocean to sequester the carbon it contains. The first paper in the series discussed ocean alkalinity enhancement for carbon dioxide removal.
To date, most carbon dioxide removal research has focused on terrestrial-based approaches, but they often have large land requirements and may present other risks and challenges. This has led to increased interest in using the oceans which have already absorbed about 30% of human carbon dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution. Carbon storage in the oceans could be further increased through large-scale seaweed cultivation. Like terrestrial plants, seaweed uptakes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows and stores it in biomass. To offset emissions, cultivated seaweed could be used to replace more greenhouse gas-intensive products, or could be sunk in the deep sea. If the seaweed is sunk towards the deep-sea floor, the biomass-stored carbon may be sequestered for centuries to millions of years.
Seaweed cultivation may also have climate adaptation and environmental co-benefits. Dense seaweed areas may be able to protect other organisms from ocean acidification, can provide oxygen-rich habitats, and can buffer against coastal erosion. However, because large-scale cultivation has not been implemented in many regions, its ultimate environmental impacts, including potential harms to local ecosystems, are not well understood.
The Sabin Center’s new white paper analyzes the international and U.S. legal frameworks applicable to research and deployment of seaweed cultivation for the purposes of carbon dioxide removal and storage. While there are currently no international or U.S. federal laws dealing specifically with seaweed cultivation, various general environmental and other laws could apply to projects. At the international and regional levels, these include the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, and the Protocol to that Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
View the latest post at
http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2021/09/07/removing-carbon-dioxide-through-seaweed-cultivation-legal-challenges-and-opportunities/
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Columbia Law School
www.columbiaclimatelaw.com
