Coalition launches to scale up marine carbon dioxide removals

The Carbon Business Council and World Ocean Council have launched a coalition of businesses, nonprofits and academic institutions to scale up marine carbon dioxide removals – which use ocean-based processes to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.

The Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Coalition will provide a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration to advance research and support the responsible growth of this climate solution.  

Members of the group – which include Banyu Carbon, Captura, Capture6, Ebb Carbon, Equatic, Isometric, Limenet, Planetary, Puro.earth, SeaO2, Vesta, and Vycarb – have already been meeting for nearly two years to discuss shared challenges and opportunities. Now with the formal launch of the mCDR Coalition, membership will be expanded to additional organisations within the ecosystem.

"Marine CDR approaches offer a critical opportunity to address the carbon already disrupting our climate and ocean ecosystems," said Ben Rubin, Executive Director of the Carbon Business Council. "With this vertical coalition, we're bringing together innovators, scientists, and policy leaders to ensure the field grows with environmental integrity, community engagement, and transparency at its core."

Role of marine dioxide removals in net zero pathways

Marine carbon dioxide removal technologies include ‘biotic CDR’, which removes and and stores CO2 through biological processes such as photosynthetic fixation in algae cultivation, and ‘abiotic CDR’, whereby humans influence the chemistry of seawater to increase the net amount of atmospheric CO2 absorbed by the ocean without increasing its acidity. There are two main types of abiotic marine carbon dioxide removals: ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) and direct ocean removal (DOR). 

Marine biomass carbon capture and sequestration credits, which fall under the biotic CDR category, are currently sold at an average price of US$250 a tonne, according to CDR.fyi. But this is an emerging solution that is currently not governed by environmental and social safeguards.

The coalition aims to change that, supporting the potential of mCDR to complement emissions reductions and contribute to global climate goals.

"Net zero is now regarded as impossible without carbon removal," said Jill Storey, Marine CDR Advisor to the World Ocean Council. "Covering 71% of the Earth's surface, the ocean offers the scale and potential needed to achieve climate goals. The mCDR Coalition is working to responsibly advance this emerging and vital maritime sector while raising its profile globally."

This launch represents the first dedicated forum of its kind for mCDR, and serves as a key part of the World Ocean Council's role in the EU Strategies for the Evaluation and Assessment of Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal (SEAO2-CDR) project, to expand international awareness, engagement, and participation in the sector.