In this special video edition of Plan Sea, host Anna Madlener and Carbon to Sea’s Senior Manager for Communications, Danny Gawlowski, record from the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) in Glasgow, Scotland. They sit down with members of the COMPASS mCDR Communication Leaders program — Dr. Abigale Wyatt, an ocean modeler from [C]Worthy, Dr. Mariam Swaleh, who leads the Ocean Climate Innovation Hub in Kenya, and Dr. Kohen Bauer, science director at Ocean Networks Canada — to explore what makes science communication effective, where it falls short, and lessons learned for communicating about mCDR research.

The Communication Leaders program, sponsored in part by Carbon to Sea, aims to support mCDR experts with the skills to engage with policymakers, media, funders, and local communities, helping them to foster responsible dialogue across the field. Drs. Wyatt, Swaleh, and Bauer shared how — through a series of virtual trainings and a culminating two-day, in-person workshop — participants collaborated on exercises to clarify their audience, utilize accessible language, and practice realistic scenarios through role-playing stakeholder engagements. These exercises helped build confidence, expose gaps in existing community engagement practices, and approach forums like OSM with a clearer communication lens.

Effective science communication is essential to bridge mCDR researchers and their scientific findings with peers in other fields, decision-makers who influence research permitting and funding, and communities where research is happening. Dr. Bauer framed it as a foundational skill operating as the basis for collaboration and learning. A chemist by trade, Dr. Swaleh emphasized the limits of highly technical jargon and noted that accessible language is key to reaching your audience. Dr. Wyatt first saw the benefits from the personal experience of navigating conversations with climate skeptical family members.

Our guests also discuss challenges in communicating across cultures, different types of stakeholders, highly politicized environments, language barriers, and different levels of scientific literacy. Dr. Swaleh shares part of this difficulty in the way “common” phrases, such as climate change, can experience difficulties in the way they are translated. She recounts how in Kiswahili, the notion of climate change moved from discussing the weather to “patterns of the country.” In this way effective communication requires slowing down, listening first, and building a shared understanding together.

Thank you to everyone who shared their time to join us in-person at OSM in Glasgow, it was an incredibly insightful opportunity to connect, reflect, and learn alongside the field’s global community. To learn more about the COMPASS mCDR Communications Leaders program and the insights Drs. Wyatt, Swaleh, and Bauer shared about how they approach communications across different audiences and contexts, watch or listen to the episode through your preferred podcast service and find the entire series here.

Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative and the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.

ACRONYMS/CONCEPTS:

• DOR: Direct Ocean Removal
• EVs: Electric Vehicles
• mCDR: Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
• MRV: Monitoring, Reporting, and Verificati

Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative & the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.

In this edition of Plan Sea, hosts Anna Madlener and Wil Burns are joined by Frank Rattey and Dr. Thorben Amann of Planeteers — a Hamburg-based carbon removal startup researching alkalinity-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches — to discuss the science behind their closed-system pathway, their first field tests, and the national regulations guiding ocean-climate research.

Dr. Thorben Amann is the Research and Development Lead at Planeteers and a geochemical CDR specialist. In this episode, Thorben explains how Planeteers’ closed-system approach differs from other ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) strategies. Rather than dissolving alkalinity directly in the ocean to drive carbon dioxide uptake, Planeteers combines carbon dioxide from point sources and alkaline feedstock in a closed reactor where it forms stable alkalinity and is then discharged into rivers or oceans.

Thorben walks through the chemistry behind this process and explains how this approach offers advantages for monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV). Because inputs and outputs are in a controlled reactor, Thorben asserts it’s easier to conduct monitoring and initial reporting. At the same time, Thorben highlights a key challenge for the field: ensuring the stability of the alkalinity after discharge. For carbon storage to be durable, he explains that the alkalinity must remain equilibrated and stable.

Frank Rattey, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Planeteers, then discusses Project Helix, Planeteers’ first field deployment located at a wastewater treatment plant in Hetlingen, Germany. Validated through the registry Isometric, this first-of-its-kind research project discharges alkalinity-enriched water into the treatment plant’s aquatic system to provide long-term carbon storage.

Noting that Germany is the only country in the world that has translated the London Convention London Protocol into national law, Frank also offers insight into how Planeteers is operating under Germany’s regulatory environment. In order to conduct their field research safely and responsibly, Planeteers cooperates with wastewater treatment plants, construction permits, and regional water authorities in the country.

To learn more about Planeteers’ closed-system, alkalinity-based CDR approach, listen to the episode above, subscribe with your favorite podcast service, or find the entire series here.

Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative and the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.

ACRONYMS/CONCEPTS:

• MRV: monitoring, reporting, verification
• CO2: carbon dioxide
• R&D: research and development
• CDR: carbon dioxide removal
• OAE: ocean alkalinity enhancement
• LCA: life cycle analysis
• EU: European Union
• London Convention (LC): Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972
• London Protocol: 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972

Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative & the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.

In this episode of Plan Sea, hosts Anna Madlener and Wil Burns sit down with Professor Dr. Alexander Proelss, Chair in the International Law of the Sea and International Environmental Law, Public International Law, and Public Law at the University of Hamburg, to discuss the current state and recent developments of international legal frameworks regulating ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (oCDR). Alexander discusses the need for international law to ensure responsible regulation of oCDR, and offers insight into the relevant international agreements for oCDR research.

Alexander joins Anna and Wil to help make sense of the existing international landscape, as well as what they mean for the development and regulation of ocean-climate research. He explains that international law is essential to ensuring responsible development of oCDR — and yet there is no single international treaty governing it.

He explains how the 1972 London Convention and the 1996 London Protocol (LC/LP) — originally designed to regulate the dumping of waste but later adapted to govern marine geoengineering — is the most relevant international framework to date, guiding the ocean-climate field. However, it has had slow progress in listing and regulating oCDR methods such as ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE). Alexander discusses how today, the LC/LP interacts with the Paris agreement, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2023 Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement (BBNJ). He also offers insight into how new legislation in Germany could make the country a "front runner" by implementing the LC/LP, permitting scientific research of several oCDR approaches and marking a significant shift from its previously highly precautionary stance.

Alexander also discusses the tendency of international agreements to limit oCDR activities to scientific research and how regulation must balance risk mitigation with harnessing the benefits of oCDR. Looking ahead, he explains how a clear framework for governing commercial activity could help proven oCDR methods grow responsibly.

To learn more about the latest state of international legal frameworks for oCDR, listen to the episode above, subscribe with your favorite podcast service, or find the entire series here.

Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative and the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.

ACRONYMS/CONCEPTS:

• London Convention (LC): Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972
• London Protocol: 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972
• OAE: ocean alkalinity enhancement
• oCDR: ocean carbon dioxide removal
• CDR: carbon dioxide removal
• UNCLOS: UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
• EEZ: exclusive economic zones
• BBNJ: Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement of 2023
• ICJ: International Court of Justice

Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative & the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.