This episode of Plan Sea was recorded live at the Ocean Visions Biennial Summit 2025 in Vancouver, Canada. Host Anna Madlener is joined again by special co-host, Danny Gawlowski, Carbon to Sea’s Senior Manager of Communications, for Part Two of a series of conversations on ocean-based climate solutions. Part One focused on the role of the ocean in carbon removal, while this episode focuses on other key aspects of the ocean-climate nexus, including reducing emissions, repairing ecosystems, and reaching global communities. Guests on this episode include: 

First, Ocean Visions Senior Program Officer Nikhil Neelakantan joins to discuss Ocean Visions’ new Reduce program. Nikhil shares insight into the current landscape of emerging technologies and early-stage prototypes for ocean-based strategies to reduce carbon emissions. He highlighted a few current projects, including the use of seaweed for low-carbon products and marine-based renewable energy, as well as what to expect from the Reduce program.

Marianne Hagen, Co-lead of Seabed Curtain Project at UArctic Frozen Arctic Conservation Network, joins Anna and Danny to discuss her participation on the panel “Facilitating Action on Global Tipping Points.” Marianne shared insights into her work on mitigating global sea level rise by delaying the melting of sea ice. 

Kilaparti (Rama) Ramakrishna, Director of Marine Policy Center and Senior Advisor to the President on Ocean and Climate Policy at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), discusses the major science and policy trends related to ocean-based climate solutions. He emphasized the need to stop burning fossil fuels alongside solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere. To enable new and proven technologies for carbon removal, he underscored the importance of improving environmental reviews, increased local community engagement, and broader efforts, for example through the COP Ocean Pavilion. 

Lastly, David Koweek, Chief Scientist at Ocean Visions, reflected on the success of the 2025 summit, which brought 400 people from 37 countries together to advance “Four R’s”: ocean-based carbon removal, ocean-based reductions, marine ecosystem repair, and reaching across communities. He noted the encouraging geographic growth in interest on ocean-climate solutions over the past several years, expanding largely from the U.S. and a few key partners to new research hubs around the world, including discussions on locally led efforts to develop a research roadmap for advancing ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (oCDR) in Africa.

To learn more about the panelists and conversations at the Ocean Visions Biennial Summit 2025, listen to the full episode above, subscribe with your favorite podcast service, or find the entire series here. Listen to Part One of Plan Sea’s coverage of the Ocean Vision Biennial here.

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