Start-up Gigablue denied law change to push ahead with controversial marine carbon storage
The New Zealand government has rejected a request from the start-up Gigablue to change marine regulations to facilitate controversial carbon storage research. Officials cited a lack of robust evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of the company's marine carbon dioxide removal methods.
Why it matters
This decision highlights the regulatory challenges and scientific skepticism surrounding emerging marine-based climate change mitigation technologies.
An international start-up wanting to carry out controversial carbon storage research in New Zealand waters has had its request for regulation changes turned down.
Gigablue warned it could be forced to stop operating in New Zealand if it did not get the changes it wanted , putting future economic investment here in jeopardy.
It wanted marine carbon research to be deemed a 'permitted activity' that could bypass the consent process, and consents for larger-scale, commercial activities to be non-notified.
But officials advised government ministers they had seen minimal evidence the company's idea worked or that it was environmentally safe.
Government ministers subsequently told the company they did not think that changes to New Zealand's exclusive economic zone rules were warranted.
They would need "robust evidence" to consider it again in future.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in