Abstract:

There is scientific consensus that industrial-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be necessary to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping the rise in global temperature to within 1.5°C or 2°C. By enhancing the ocean’s natural capacity for carbon sequestration and long-term storage, ocean-based CDR may have the potential to remove carbon at the necessary scales. While investments are pouring into the design and early-stage deployment of ocean-based CDR technologies, the ocean is a complex ecosystem, a constantly moving fluid, posing challenges to quantifying ocean-based CDR projects. Scientifically-credible approaches are urgently needed to ensure that CDR interventions achieve net carbon removal and avoid adverse ecosystem impacts. In this talk, we will present background motivation and a vision for a new non-profit focused research organization called [C]worthy, which aims to confront the challenges associated with quantifying ocean-based CDR.