Government says no to ocean carbon experiment
Ministers have said no to a start-up that wanted to change the rules for storing carbon in the sea, RNZ reported on 21 September 2026.
The request came from Gigablue. It wanted changes to New Zealand's exclusive economic zone rules, the rules for the sea area New Zealand controls beyond the coast, to allow marine carbon storage research in New Zealand waters.
The company asked for two changes. It wanted marine carbon research to be a 'permitted activity', which would let it go ahead without a full approval process. It also wanted approvals for larger, commercial projects to be non-notified, which means decided without asking the public.
Gigablue warned it could be forced to stop operating in New Zealand if it did not get the changes.
Officials advised against the request. In a June briefing to climate and environment ministers, they said Gigablue's MCFS technology is likely a form of ocean fertilisation. That means adding material to the sea to make tiny sea plants grow. They told ministers they had seen minimal evidence the idea worked or was safe.
The advice was direct. Officials said they had seen no evidence the technology can take carbon dioxide from the air and keep it stored for any period of time.
Ministers followed that advice. They told Gigablue they did not think changes to exclusive economic zone rules were warranted. Ministers said no.
They left the door open. Ministers told the company they would need "robust evidence" to reconsider rule changes in future.
Gigablue was co-founded by four Israeli entrepreneurs. Its business relies on selling credits on the voluntary carbon market. It has pre-sold 200,000 carbon credits to an aviation company.
Its method uses Carbon-Carrier Pods to encourage phytoplankton, tiny sea plants, to grow on particles. Like seeds that fall to the seabed, the idea is the particles sink and store carbon in the deep ocean.
The scale sought in New Zealand is large. The company has proposed an expanded "sequestration field" in New Zealand, according to Fortune reporting last year. It had earlier planned to put 1,000 tonnes of its particles into the ocean, RNZ reported in April. On its blog, the company says it aims to expand research in New Zealand.
Gigablue disputes the officials' view. On its blog, it says recent studies show its Carbon-Carrier Pods work and are safe for the environment.
The broader context here is about the normal checks. A permitted tag would have removed case-by-case checks for research. Non-notified approvals for commercial use would have removed public submissions and limited appeal rights.
Looking at what this means for the company, ministers have not banned the activity. They have kept the current rules, and asked Gigablue to use the normal approval path and bring strong proof if it wants the rules revisited.
