New agreement aims to strengthen ocean-climate research through community-led best practices

Washington, D.C. (November 19, 2024) – Today, the Carbon to Sea Initiative and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to develop data management guidelines for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (oCDR) research – also referred to as marine CDR or mCDR. oCDR refers to various ways that may accelerate the ocean’s ability to draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or surface ocean. The three-year partnership between NOAA and Carbon to Sea will establish guidelines to ensure consistency and comparability across oCDR projects, enhancing the impact of research findings in this critical field. Advancing responsible oCDR research is a growing priority for the federal government, building on the National Academies’ research strategy (2022), NOAA’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Research Strategy (2023), and the recently released Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Strategy from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

“Given the urgency of the climate challenge we face, this partnership with NOAA is an important step towards responsibly assessing the viability of oCDR approaches like ocean alkalinity enhancement,” said Antonius Gagern, Executive Director of the Carbon to Sea Initiative. “We look forward to working with NOAA to establish strong and aligned data guidelines to help scientists share knowledge, improve their research, and ensure we can gain a clear picture of what we are learning from the field. We hope this CRADA can serve as a catalyst for the development and adoption of broader oCDR standards.”

"As we confront the growing challenges of climate change, it's crucial that we have robust and consistent methods for managing and sharing data in emerging fields like marine carbon dioxide removal," said Steve Thur, Ph.D., NOAA assistant administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. "NOAA has long been known as an honest broker of sound science. This partnership will help us build a strong data management foundation for mCDR research, enabling more efficient collaboration and accelerating our understanding of these important technologies."

The CRADA will focus on developing community-led best practices for consistent metadata, data templates and controlled vocabularies, with an emphasis on assessing the efficacy, scalability, impacts and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) efforts of oCDR technologies. These guidelines will be applied across research efforts funded and supported by programs within NOAA and Carbon to Sea networks, promoting transparency, knowledge-sharing and responsible research.

NOAA will contribute its subject matter expertise and technical data management capabilities to the partnership. Carbon to Sea, drawing on its network of ocean science data experts, will lead the development of community-led data management best practices through user requirements, literature reviews, stakeholder input, public comment periods, and training workshops.

This agreement builds on the growing recognition of carbon dioxide removal as a necessary component in addressing climate change and the need to evaluate a portfolio of approaches, including oCDR. All climate scenarios that keep global temperatures below 1.5°C or 2°C above the pre-industrial time period require both immediate and deep reductions of all greenhouse gas emissions, as well as removing previously emitted carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has estimated that oCDR research requires an additional $301.5 million in investment annually to safely remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at scale. 

The public can learn more about the CRADA and track future updates on NOAA's website HERE.

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About NOAA:

Climate, weather, and water affect all life on our ocean planet. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve America’s coastal and marine resources. See how NOAA science, services, and stewardship benefit your community: Visit noaa.gov for our latest news and features, and join us on social media.

Media contact: Alison Gillespie, alison.gillespie@noaa.gov, 202-713-6644

About Carbon to Sea: 

Carbon to Sea is a non-profit initiative that brings together leading funders and world-class scientists to explore ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) — which has been identified as a high-potential approach to strengthen the ocean’s natural ability to remove large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon to Sea was launched in June 2023 and is the largest funder in the OAE space. The organization supports research, technology development, and knowledge-sharing among the scientific community. It advocates for responsible scientific research, meaningful community engagement, responsible regulatory frameworks and greater public and private funding for OAE. Learn more at: https://carbontosea.org/

Media contact: Danny Gawlowski, danny@carbontosea.org