Climate planning: Why India needs its very own body of research on marine carbon removal

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India has a habit of approaching big technological questions in refreshingly practical ways. We adopt new ideas when they solve real problems, fit our context and prove themselves through evidence—not because the rest of the world is excited about them.

It’s the same instinct that helped us scale solar power, digital payments and even vaccines with level-headed competence. That instinct is useful as a new climate conversation takes shape globally: marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). It is not something India is being asked to deploy.

At this stage, it is simply a scientific inquiry—one that matters because we are a coastal nation with strong marine-science institutions and communities whose lives are deeply tied to the ocean. But first, it’s worth stepping back to look at the broader climate equation. The science is clear: to contain temperature rise, the world must do two things at the same time: cut emissions sharply and remove some of the carbon already in the atmosphere.

Think of these as two oars of the same boat. Row with only one and you simply spin in circles. Most of the attention, appropriately, goes to emissions cuts: cleaner energy, better transport and more efficient industry.

But the world is also exploring different ways of removing carbon. Some are land-based, like trees, biochar or enhanced weathering. And some, more recently, involve the ocean.

The reason the ocean enters this conversation at all is because it is already the world’s largest active carbon sink. Since the start of the industrial age, it has absorbed about 30% of all the carbon dioxide humans have released. It is doing a huge amount of climate work simply through natural chemistry and biology.