Israeli climate tech company Gigablue is asking New Zealand to update its offshore regulations so it can expand trials of its marine carbon dioxide removal technology. The company uses solid particles with micronutrients to boost phytoplankton growth, which captures CO2 through photosynthesis and then sinks carbon to the deep ocean for long-term storage. Since starting its New Zealand research programme in 2023, Gigablue has run three trials inside the Exclusive Economic Zone. The regulatory push matters because current EEZ rules were not written with commercial carbon removal in mind. If New Zealand adjusts its framework, it could become a testbed for ocean-based carbon credits. The outcome will affect how marine CDR projects get permitted and how carbon storage claims are verified. For anyone tracking carbon removal as a real offset method, this is a concrete policy test worth following.
