mCDR is carbon dioxide removal in the marine realm. Carbon capture, while in no way an alternative to emissions reductions, is needed to clean up the atmosphere and limit the impact of global warming.

The ocean beyond national jurisdiction belongs to no single nation [1], and international courts have now recognized greenhouse gas emissions as pollution of the marine environment that states have a duty to prevent, reduce, and control [2] [3].

The carbon market requires verification that actors who claim a quantity is sequestered actually do so. This is a financial standard as well as a societal necessity. For carbon capture to scale it requires forays into altering the earth system, and any such intervention must not transform one form of pollution into another [1]. This then requires an understanding of the complexity of the oceanographic system itself. Here is where we hope to be of service.

(1) Intelligent design of effective mCDR.

(2) Development of robust MRV methods.

• See our ongoing academic work on inert particle tracers remotely sensed through optical means

References

1. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), Arts. 87–89 and 192–195. UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea
2. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law, Case No. 31, Advisory Opinion of 21 May 2024. itlos.org
3. International Court of Justice, Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change, Advisory Opinion of 23 July 2025. icj-cij.org/case/187