Weston Roundtable – Marine-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal Approaches to Combat Climate Change

Speaker: Wil Burns, Co-Director, Institute for Carbon Removal Law & Policy, American University; Visiting Professor, Environmental Policy & Culture Program, Northwestern University

After entry into the Paris Agreement, it has become obvious that aggressive emission reduction initiatives and large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal are needed to avoid passing critical climatic thresholds. While early research of carbon dioxide removal options focused on terrestrial approaches, there has been increasing attention to the potential role of the world’s oceans.

However, large-scale deployment of such options pose potentially substantial risks to marine environments and key economic stakeholders. Moreover, there is likely to be substantial public backlash to research absent the existence of a sound regulatory framework for risk assessment, monitoring, and public deliberation.

This presentation will cover the potential risks and benefits presented by different ocean-based geoengineering options. It will include a discussion of regulatory efforts to date by international treaty regimes, and other potentially pertinent regimes, including those with a marine regulatory focus, as well as the potential role of the UNFCCC/Paris Agreement.

The Weston Roundtable is made possible by a generous donation from Roy F. Weston, a highly accomplished UW-Madison alumnus. Designed to promote a robust understanding of sustainability science, engineering, and policy, these interactive lectures are co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Office of Sustainability.