Ocean Conservation & Tidalpunk

Abstract

Drawing upon interviews with experts involved in mCDR research projects both academic and entrepreneurial, we highlight four thematic tensions that orient their thinking but are often unstated or left implicit in scientific and technical assessments:

1. the relevance of ‘naturalness’ as a criterion of evaluation for mCDR approaches;
2. the perceived need to accelerate research and development activities via alternative paradigms of evidence-building;
3. a framing of mCDR as a form of waste management that will, in turn, generate new (and currently poorly understood) forms of environmental pollutants; and
4. a commitment to inclusive governance mixed with difficulty in identifying specific stakeholders or constituencies in mCDR interventions.

Introduction

The prospect of deploying new technologies for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) has gained considerable attention, as reductions in greenhouse gas emissions fail to keep pace with climate stabilization targets (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2023). (...)

Conclusions

(...) Our examination of these tensions leaves us with a number of outstanding questions.

1. If we acknowledge that mCDR cannot return oceans to a pristine or natural state, and that it inevitably introduces significant changes in marine environments, how much change to the oceans is ‘too much’?
2. If we must urgently develop an appropriate knowledge base to decide on mCDR deployment, how do we ensure that research acceleration does not occur to the detriment of understanding the full range of impacts and involving affected groups?
3. Even if we conceive of mCDR as a form of planetary waste management, how do we ensure adequate attention to understanding and mapping the material impacts and byproducts that it will generate, and what mechanisms could prevent burdening vulnerable communities with these new environmental harms?
4. Finally, who should ‘count’ as a relevant public for mCDR projects, and what should be the manner of their involvement in governance processes? None of these questions can be ‘resolved’ simply by expanding empirical research efforts, but they can be formulated with greater precision, and in ways that allow a fruitful dialogue among experts, and between them and the larger public.

Stavanger, Norway – Greenpeace International released a new report "Gambling with the deep sea - Those betting on mining the Arctic" exposing the Norwegian government and companies' efforts to start deep sea mining in the Arctic, today. At the time of release, activists from Greenpeace Nordic launched a protest action against Loke Marine Minerals, a Norwegian company that wants to start deep sea mining in the depths of the Arctic and the Pacific Oceans. Loke has been outspoken in its ambition to become the world's largest producer of controversial seabed minerals.

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Archived link of the article

In the study, researchers reconsider the data, correcting for a gradual shift in Earth’s magnetic field that they say affected the measurements.

The oil and gas industry has been using the North Sea as a free disposal site for decades.

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Relevant article from Grist: Humans know very little about the deep sea. That may not stop us from mining it.

last year, a dive by Oceangate’s Titan sub went tragically wrong. The vessel suffered a catastrophic failure as it neared the sea floor, killing all five people onboard.

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Rush described his sub as “experimental” and, in a blog post in 2019, he argued that certification “slowed down innovation”.

The passengers on Titan paid up to $250,000 (£191,135) for a place.

A new study highlights the connected nature of the Southern Ocean dynamic system, the research priorities needed to understand its influence on climate change, the importance of cross-disciplinary collaborations.

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