 |
Plan Sea: Ocean Interventions to Address Climate ChangeAuthor: Wil Burns and Anna Madlener
Plan Sea focuses on ocean-based climate solutions that seek to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (carbon dioxide removal) or reduce incoming solar radiation (solar radiation modification). The podcast scrutinizes risks and benefits of these options, as well as matters of governance, stakeholder engagement, ethics, and politics. Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
Listen Now...
Coastal Resilience and oCDR with Carbon Removal Standards Initiative’s Dr. Gabby Kitch and Anu Khan
Episode 10
Thursday, 2 April, 2026
In this episode of Plan Sea, hosts Anna Madlener and Dr. Wil Burns sit down with Dr. Gabby Kitch and Anu Khan from the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative (CRSI) — a nonprofit organization using science and policy to unlock carbon dioxide removal (CDR) opportunities — to break down their recently published roadmap, Our Coasts, Resiliency, and Carbon Dioxide Removal. The report identifies three coastal resilience pathways that offer possibility for alignment with ocean-based carbon dioxide removal.Authors of the report, Dr. Kitch and Anu Khan, discuss three types of coastal resilience pathways identified in the roadmap: living shorelines, ecosystem restoration, and stormwater infrastructure. The report explores how these pathways could also offer integrations with carbon removal. The report includes case studies from four coastal states — Louisiana, California, North Carolina, and New Jersey — as well as insights from interviews with more than 40 coastal practitioners.The report authors also explain that 40% of Americans live in coastal counties, making coastal resilience an evolving and necessary field. Across states, resilience infrastructure is expanding, but the authors emphasized that monitoring systems remain underfunded and how permitting processes vary across regions. Integrating CDR, however, can provide an opportunity for assessing its feasibility, standardizing monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV), while also leveraging investments to accelerate learning across the field. This builds on the concept of “sectoral integration,” which reframes CDR as a co-benefit rather than a standalone industry. Our guests also emphasize the importance of incorporating environmental justice into project design. They spotlight the need for early and meaningful community engagement, co-developing projects for local benefits, using culturally-relevant outreach strategies, and respecting Indigenous rights. Looking ahead, they note that integrated projects are becoming the norm by necessity, and continuing in this trend can position coastal resilience as a case for knowledge sharing across the field. 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:CEQA: California Environmental Quality ActCPRA: Coastal Protection and Restoration AuthorityCRSI: Carbon Removal Standards Initiative mCDR: Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal MRV: Monitoring, Reporting, and VerificationNOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration OAE: Ocean Alkalinity EnhancementPlan 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.
