Plan Sea: Ocean Interventions to Address Climate Change
“Plan Sea” focuses on ocean-based climate solutions that seek to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (carbon dioxide removal) or reduce incoming solar radiation (solar radiation modification). The podcast scrutinizes risks and benefits of these options, as well as matters of governance, stakeholder engagement, ethics, and politics.
Plan Sea: Ocean Interventions to Address Climate Change
A Deep Dive on Principles for Responsible Ocean Carbon Removal Development & Governance
In this edition of Plan Sea, co-host Anna Madlener sits down with co-host (and one of this week’s guests) Wil Burns, Dr. Terre Satterfield from the University of British Columbia, and Dr. Chris Pearce from the UK’s National Oceanography Center. Burns, Satterfield, and Pearce are some of the lead authors on a new report launched at the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, “Principles for Responsible and Effective Marine CDR Development and Governance.”
Commissioned by the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the report outlines how to responsibly evaluate and potentially scale ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (oCDR) — also referred to as marine CDR — along three pillars: scientific and technological readiness, governance, and national implementation. The framework reflects months of collaborative research to help address how oCDR can begin to move from lab trials to real-world deployment — while maintaining high standards of scientific rigor, environmental protection, and public trust. Read the full report HERE.
Dr. Terre Satterfield, Professor of Culture, Risk and the Environment at the University of British Columbia, joins Wil and Anna to discuss the report’s recommendations for national strategies that can accelerate oCDR research and public engagement. She spoke about the importance of streamlining permitting processes for oCDR field trials, earmarking funding for lab networks for holistic oCDR evaluation, and investing in public engagement hubs to help co-design research efforts.
Dr. Christopher Pearce, drawing from his research on oCDR science at the UK’s National Oceanography Center, discusses how the report offers six categories to assess scientific and technological readiness for various oCDR approaches. This aims to help policymakers better understand when and why, for example, an approach may be quite well-understood by scientists in the lab, but the environmental impacts associated with larger projects are less understood and require field trials for further evaluation. He also explains how tools like pre-permitted testbed sites and national lab networks can promote data sharing and create the infrastructure needed for safe and scalable mCDR projects.
Looking ahead, Wil, Terre, and Chris discuss how international frameworks like BBNJ (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) can ensure accountability for future mCDR governance, and reflect on the major challenges facing the field—from limited public awareness and funding to the need for strong public oversight as the technology scales. The report offers important recommendations, such as creating pre-permitted testbed sites and national lab networks that can promote research efficiency and strong standards as oCDR continues to be evaluated, regulated, and tested.
To learn more about the report’s findings, listen to the full episode HERE, subscribe with your favorite podcast service, or find the entire series here.
Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative & the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.
ACRONYMS / CONCEPTS:
- MRV (1:26); Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification
- TRL (6:58); Technology Readiness Level
- SRL (6:44); Scientific Readiness Level
- BBNJ (38:03); Agreement on Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, also known a
Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative & the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.
