With support from Ocean Visions, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University recently published model federal legislation to advance safe and responsible ocean carbon dioxide removal research in the United States.

Controlled field trials and other in-ocean research is critical to improve scientific and societal understanding of CDR techniques that could help the U.S. reach its climate goals. However, existing legal frameworks were not designed to regulate ocean CDR and, in some cases, unnecessarily or inappropriately restrict needed research.

In this webinar, Romany Webb, Associate Research Scholar at Columbia Law School and Deputy Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, will describe the existing legal framework for ocean carbon dioxide removal research in the U.S. and highlight key gaps and shortcomings in that framework. She will also discuss possible legal reforms to facilitate safe and responsible ocean carbon dioxide removal research. A key focus will be on new model legislation the Sabin Center developed to streamline the permitting of research projects and ensure they are conducted in a scientifically sound way that minimizes risks and maximizes benefits.

About Romany Webb

Romany Webb is an Associate Research Scholar at Columbia Law School and Deputy Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Romany’s research focuses on two primary areas: (1) energy and (2) negative emissions technologies. Romany’s energy-related research explores how legal and policy tools can be used to minimize the climate impacts of energy development as well the impacts of climate change on energy infrastructure. Romany also researches legal issues associated with the development and deployment of negative emissions technologies on land and in the ocean. From 2020 through 2022, she served on the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal and Sequestration. She now co-chairs the Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources and serves on a number of other boards and advisory councils.

Model Legislation to Advance Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal Research