To avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change we must meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting the maximum extent of global warming to under 2˚C. The latest IPCC assessments show that realising this target requires both a rapid and substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the active removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from our atmosphere.
SEAO2-CDR intentionally focusses on ocean-based CDR (OCDR) techniques as they have received less attention than terrestrial approaches, despite many offering an equivalent, if not greater, atmospheric CO2 sequestration potential. The ocean contains about 50 times amount of carbon that is in the atmosphere (with the potential to store much more), and is already the largest long-term sink for anthropogenic CO2. Small enhancements in this vast CO2 sink consequently have the potential to translate to an enormous drawdown of atmospheric CO2. However, many knowledge gaps currently exist in our understanding of the biotic and abiotic techniques that have been proposed for accelerating the rate of CO2 influx into seawater, and an improved understanding is essential before they can be implemented at climatically relevant scales.
SEAO2-CDR seeks to address critical gaps in our understanding of the ecological benefits and trade-offs for a range of OCDR approaches, and to help facilitate their incorporation into Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) and deployment strategies. It also aims to assess technologies and approaches for enabling robust Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV), ensuring that carbon-accounting and environmental monitoring requirements can be achieved for different OCDR approaches. By engaging with public, governmental, non-governmental, corporate and finance stakeholders, SEAO2-CDR will also help facilitate the development of social, regulatory, political, economic and ethical governance frameworks and provide the guidance required to support the development of policy instruments and business models for the responsible implementation of OCDR approaches in support of climate change mitigation efforts.
The overall objective of SEAO2-CDR is to evaluate and establish the mechanisms and processes required to facilitate the environmentally safe, socially acceptable, and economically viable implementation of appropriate ocean-based CDR approaches to support the realisation of global climate policies.
Achieving this objective will enhance the technical viability of OCDR by characterising the key system boundaries, processes, material and energy flows of different approaches in addition to establishing their temporal and spatial monitoring requirements and mechanisms. It will also develop the social, regulatory, political, economic and ethical frameworks required to facilitate and support OCDR uptake at scale. Finally, it will provide a deep understanding of realistic implementation policies and pathways via an integrated assessment of system-level effects.
This will be delivered through seven specific objectives:
O1. To enhance our understanding of emerging ocean-based CDR approaches by characterising their potential operational space using common frameworks for life cycle assessments (LCA) and techno-economic assessments (TEA).
O2. To develop, assess and harmonise technological solutions for ocean-based CDR monitoring reporting and verification.
O3. To improve understanding of public and stakeholder perceptions by exploring societal acceptance of ocean-based CDR in the context of the broader ecosystem services offered by different approaches.
O4. To derive a scientifically grounded and stakeholder-oriented multidimensional governance framework for ocean-based CDR that considers the legal, ethical, policy and geopolitical implications of upscaling ocean-based CDR approaches.
O5. To develop the commercial frameworks and incentivisation strategies needed to support the potential for ocean-based CDR operationalisation, including via improved abatement cost estimates and standardised carbon accounting.
O6. To support assessment of the ecological and economic feasibility of ocean-based CDR deployment on a regional scale through improved representation in Integrated Assessment Models.
O7. To generate the roadmaps required to help policymakers bring ocean-based CDR to scale.
