Grappling with a sea change: tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removal

While research on marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) expands apace, significant unknowns persist regarding the risks and benefits of individual mCDR options. This paper analyses the assumptions and expectations that animate expert understandings of mCDR, with a focus on issues that are central to...

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Hlavní autoři: Nawaz, S, Lezaun, J
Médium: Journal article
Jazyk:English
Vydáno: Elsevier 2024
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author Nawaz, S
Lezaun, J
author_facet Nawaz, S
Lezaun, J
author_sort Nawaz, S
collection OXFORD
description While research on marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) expands apace, significant unknowns persist regarding the risks and benefits of individual mCDR options. This paper analyses the assumptions and expectations that animate expert understandings of mCDR, with a focus on issues that are central to the responsible governance of this emerging field of climate action. Drawing upon interviews with experts involved in mCDR research projects both academic and entrepreneurial, we highlight four thematic tensions that orient their thinking but are often unstated or left implicit in scientific and technical assessments: (1) the relevance of ‘naturalness’ as a criterion of evaluation for mCDR approaches; (2) the perceived need to accelerate research and development activities via alternative paradigms of evidence-building; (3) a framing of mCDR as a form of waste management that will, in turn, generate new (and currently poorly understood) forms of environmental pollutants; and (4) a commitment to inclusive governance mixed with difficulty in identifying specific stakeholders or constituencies in mCDR interventions. Although expert consensus on these four issues is unlikely, we suggest ways of ensuring that consideration of these themes enriches debate on the responsible development of novel mCDR capabilities.
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spelling oxford-uuid:4c64c0ec-01e1-4ee8-aca2-b40c88a2bc6d2024-03-22T13:13:45ZGrappling with a sea change: tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removalJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:4c64c0ec-01e1-4ee8-aca2-b40c88a2bc6dEnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2024Nawaz, SLezaun, JWhile research on marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) expands apace, significant unknowns persist regarding the risks and benefits of individual mCDR options. This paper analyses the assumptions and expectations that animate expert understandings of mCDR, with a focus on issues that are central to the responsible governance of this emerging field of climate action. Drawing upon interviews with experts involved in mCDR research projects both academic and entrepreneurial, we highlight four thematic tensions that orient their thinking but are often unstated or left implicit in scientific and technical assessments: (1) the relevance of ‘naturalness’ as a criterion of evaluation for mCDR approaches; (2) the perceived need to accelerate research and development activities via alternative paradigms of evidence-building; (3) a framing of mCDR as a form of waste management that will, in turn, generate new (and currently poorly understood) forms of environmental pollutants; and (4) a commitment to inclusive governance mixed with difficulty in identifying specific stakeholders or constituencies in mCDR interventions. Although expert consensus on these four issues is unlikely, we suggest ways of ensuring that consideration of these themes enriches debate on the responsible development of novel mCDR capabilities.
spellingShingle Nawaz, S
Lezaun, J
Grappling with a sea change: tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removal
title Grappling with a sea change: tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removal
title_full Grappling with a sea change: tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removal
title_fullStr Grappling with a sea change: tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removal
title_full_unstemmed Grappling with a sea change: tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removal
title_short Grappling with a sea change: tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removal
title_sort grappling with a sea change tensions in expert imaginaries of marine carbon dioxide removal
work_keys_str_mv AT nawazs grapplingwithaseachangetensionsinexpertimaginariesofmarinecarbondioxideremoval
AT lezaunj grapplingwithaseachangetensionsinexpertimaginariesofmarinecarbondioxideremoval