Ministers reject Gigablue bid to loosen ocean carbon rules
Ministers have turned down a request from start-up Gigablue for changes to New Zealand's exclusive economic zone rules for marine carbon storage research, RNZ reported on 21 September 2026.
The exclusive economic zone is the large sea area New Zealand controls beyond its coast. Gigablue wanted rule changes to make research in New Zealand waters easier.
The company sought two specific changes. It wanted marine carbon research to be a 'permitted activity', which would let it bypass the consent process. It also wanted consents for larger-scale, commercial activities to be non-notified, which means decided without public submissions.
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 concluded Gigablue's MCFS technology is likely a form of ocean fertilisation, adding material to the sea to boost plankton growth. They told ministers they had seen minimal evidence the idea worked or was environmentally safe.
The advice was direct. Officials said they had seen no evidence the technology can take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere 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 model relies on selling credits on the voluntary carbon market. It has pre-sold 200,000 carbon credits to an aviation company.
Its method involves encouraging phytoplankton, tiny ocean plants, to grow on particles that store carbon in the deep ocean when they sink to the seafloor. The system uses Carbon-Carrier Pods.
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 deploy 1,000 tonnes of its proprietary 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' assessment. On its blog, it says recent studies show its Carbon-Carrier Pods work and are environmentally safe.
The broader context here is about where the burden sits under exclusive economic zone consenting. A permitted classification would have removed case-by-case assessment for research. Non-notified consents for commercial use would have removed public submissions and limited third-party appeal rights.
Looking at what this means for proponents, the message is procedural rather than final. Ministers have not prohibited the activity. They have declined to rewrite the rulebook for it, and put the onus back on the company to produce robust evidence through existing consent pathways if it wants the rules revisited.
