Negative Emissions

22 posts

The ITLOS Advisory Opinion and Marine Geoengineering: More Questions, Few Answers

On May 21, 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) released its long-awaited advisory opinion on climate change. The opinion was requested in 2022 by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law, which asked ITLOS to opine on States’ obligations to […]

The European Commission’s industrial carbon management strategy: ambitious and risky plans to achieve net-zero

In February, the European Commission published its highly anticipated industrial carbon management strategy. The document outlines the Commission’s plans to build an EU-wide carbon management infrastructure as part of its efforts to decarbonize the industrial sector and achieve negative emissions. This blog post discusses these plans by (i) looking at […]

Legal Issues in Oceanic Transport of Carbon Dioxide for Sequestration: Sabin Center Launches New Report

A new report published today by the Sabin Center examines the laws governing international transport of carbon dioxide for sequestration. We focus, specifically, on the shipping of carbon dioxide that was captured in Europe to the United States for sequestration there. Much of the report would also be relevant to […]

International Governance of Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal: Recent Developments and Future Directions

Ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is attracting increased attention as a possible climate change response strategy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made clear that, while CDR cannot substitute for rapid and deep cuts in emissions, its use is “unavoidable” if the worst impacts of climate change are […]

Executive Actions to Ensure Safe and Responsible Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal Research in the United States

The Sabin Center published a new report today recommending actions that federal agencies could take to ensure safe and responsible permitting and regulation of ocean carbon dioxide removal (CDR) research in U.S. waters. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that CDR will be needed, alongside deep emissions cuts, […]

Harnessing the Ocean’s Power to Combat the Climate Crisis

While progress is being made, there is still a lot to do. The IPCC has said that, in addition to reducing emissions, it will likely also be necessary to draw greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere to mitigate climate change. The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, an affiliate of the Columbia Climate School, has been exploring various ways of doing that, including through “blue carbon” approaches. Blue carbon is carbon captured by ocean and coastal ecosystems. In this post, we will focus specifically on ocean-based carbon dioxide removal and sequestration, also known as “ocean CDR”.

Beyond troubled waters? Unprecedented cross-border transportation and injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) for offshore storage shows promise

March 8, 2023, marked the start of the demonstration phase of  Project Greensand, shipping carbon dioxide (CO2) from Belgium for storage in a depleted oilfield in the North Sea off the coast of Denmark. This blog post highlights three ways in which this pioneering carbon capture and storage (CCS) operation […]