Monitoring, reporting, and verification of marine carbon dioxide removal: Exploring scientific consensus and divergences across continents
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) approaches are increasingly considered for climate change mitigation as a supplement to rapid emissions reduction. However, it is still unclear if mCDR approaches could be effective, safe, and accountable. A critical requirement for mCDR to work, potentially, is robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of greenhouse gas(es) removed through mCDR activities. MRV frameworks and protocols are currently developed in a scattered manner by individual stakeholders, so that the principles they are built upon may or may not appeal to the broader international community that is interested in the ocean commons. International agreement and consolidation on MRV for mCDR seem crucial to legitimize and validate mCDR, considering that the ocean is a globally interconnected fluid and that activities by some may affect many others. Here, we undertake a step toward consolidation of MRV by consulting the international scientific community. We established a global network of scientists organized into 6 “continental” nodes, each of which addressed the same set of MRV-related questions and whose thoughts were equally weighted in the synthesis. Our consultation shows that while there are many converging views on MRV (e.g., the importance of modeling for MRV), there are also differences in the regional MRV priorities (e.g., the importance of regional vs global models). The areas of consensus and divergence identified herein may be instrumental in the design of more widely accepted MRV frameworks, informed equally by scientists from 6 continents.
Authors: Linn J. Hoffmann, Lennart T. Bach, Kohen W. Bauer, Jessica Cross, Anwesha Ghosh, Jose Martín Hernández-Ayón, Karin Kvale, Jannine M. Lencina-Avila, Baker Matovu, Nayrah Shaltout, Ifeoluwa Abolade Somorin, Hluphi Constance Mafuwane, Bryce Van Dam, Abbie Akinyi Allela, Magak Adell, Harris Anderson, Parth Arora, Dariia Atamanchuk, Sandy Avrutin, Chelsey A. Baker, Nina Bednaršek, Thomas Bell, Raffaele Bernardello, Tim Boxhammer, Mukhtiar Ali Burfat, Nicolas Cassar, Meg Chadsey, Zanna Chase, Luiz C. Cotovicz, Peter Croot, Andréa da Consolação de O. Carvalho, Antoine De Ramon N’Yeurt, Beatrice Manel Dias-Wanigasekera, Wayne Dillon, Michael Ellwood, Katja Fennel, Jean-Pierre Gattuso, Kalina Grabb, Paul Halloran, Will Howard, Caroline Marie B. Jaraula, Joni Jupesta, Alicia Karspeck, Elizabeth D. Keller, Vassilis Kitidis, Cliff S. Law, Jihua Liu, Jacki Long, M. Celeste López-Abbate, Melissa Meléndez, Nadine Mengis, Rebecca Mills, Klas Ove Möller, Abubakari H. Munna, Jens Daniel Müller, Natalia Osma, Jaime Palter, Keyhong Park, Christopher Pearce, Cintia Quintana, Steve Rackley, Patrick Rafter, Geraldine Rengiil, Raquel Renó de Oliveira, Mallory Ringham, Tyler Rohr, Christopher Sabine, Elizabeth Shadwick, Susana M. Simancas-Giraldo, Arvind Singh, Adam Subhas, Adrienne Sutton, Mariam Swaleh, Veronica Tamsitt, Pablo Trucco-Pignata, Doug Wallace, Yuntao Wang, Brian Ward, Yinghuan Xie, Rebecca Zitoun
Institutions: University of Otago, University of Tasmania, University of Victoria, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, National Taiwan Ocean University, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Tshwane University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Egerton University, University of Nairobi, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Dalhousie University, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, National Oceanography Centre, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Duke University, University of Washington, Washington Sea Grant, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway, Universidade Federal da Bahia, University of the South Pacific, Australian National University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of Exeter, University of the Philippines Diliman, IPB University, [C]Worthy, Victoria University of Wellington, Earth Sciences New Zealand, Shandong University, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Submarine Scientific LLC (United States), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Sokoine University of Agriculture, University of Bern, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, ETH Zurich, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Carbon to Sea Initiative, Universidad de Antofagasta, University of Concepción, Millennium Institute of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Korea Polar Research Institute, University of Southern Denmark, University of California, Irvine, Palau International Coral Reef Center, Centre for Southern Hemisphere Oceans Research, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, University of Bremen, Physical Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Technical University of Mombasa, University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Ministry of Natural Resources
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,450
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W7160088355