September 2025 | Oceanography
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GOA-ON’S NETWORK AND CAPACITY
GOA-ON has fostered collaboration among researchers, Indigenous
Peoples, local communities, the wider public, and policymakers.
The network allows for diverse expertise in areas such as ocean-
ography, biology, climate, policy, law, Indigenous knowledge, and
social science to converge, leading to more holistic and regionally
tailored mCDR application. Capacity building has been a core pillar
of GOA-ON, and a recent publication highlights the lessons learned,
the increasing need for capacity, and a vision for the future (Newton
et al., 2025). GOA-ON also serves as an example of an independent
body that drives broader OA engagement; a similar entity has been
called for within the mCDR community to lead broad scientific
engagement that is fully independent in its research, but engaged
with all relevant interested parties (Nawaz et al., 2024).
The OA community, supported by intergovernmental bodies
(e.g., IAEA OA-ICC, IOC-UNESCO), nonprofits (e.g., The Ocean
Foundation), and government agencies, has been advancing
global capacity and supporting the development of early career
ocean professionals (ECOPs) by providing training at multiple
technical levels, equipment, approachable methodologies, net-
working, and research support (Lang et al., 2024; Dupont et al.,
2025; Kitch et al., 2025; Newton et al., 2025; Valauri-Orton et al.,
2025). For example, the GOA-ON Pier2Peer program allows
ECOPs from anywhere in the world to apply for mentoring in OA.
GOA-ON in a Box kits (Valauri-Orton et al., 2025) were specif-
ically designed to allow scientists from lesser-resourced regions
to initiate OA monitoring activities that often comprise the first
efforts in their countries. GOA-ON scientists teach best practices
through worldwide workshops hosted in well-resourced coun-
tries as well as in targeted locations, often using regional part-
ners, and virtually and online through the Ocean Teacher Global
Academy course on OA.
The emergence of interest in mCDR from both nongovern-
mental (e.g., Ocean Visions, Carbon to Sea) and philanthropic
(e.g., Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance, or ORCA) organi-
zations could provide a basis for developing these efforts. A simi-
lar capacity-building strategy, learning from efforts in OA, would
benefit mCDR by preparing scientists with the skills and knowl-
edge needed to implement, monitor, and evaluate the effects of
mCDR approaches in diverse oceanic contexts. Consistent data
collection and analysis across various ecosystems, made possi-
ble through a well-equipped and trained global network, as well
as standardized measurement methodologies and data sharing,
would ensure that mCDR research is comparable and reliable
across different regions, facilitating the development of robust
mCDR guidelines and practices that can be scaled globally. Given
the global scale of mCDR that will be required to achieve rele-
vant levels of carbon removal, tailored capacity building efforts
will help ensure equitability so that researchers along every coast-
line have the resources to assess proposed projects and contribute
to the growing body of knowledge in the mCDR field. The IAEA
OA-ICC has already expanded its capacity building program to
support training in mCDR, recently offering a training course
in “Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement—Assessing the Impacts
on Marine Organisms” (Monaco, April 2025). Led by several
GOA-ON experts, the course built on best practices and lessons
learned from OA research adapted to OAE, notably on experi-
mental design.
For any mCDR activity, involvement of local communities
is required to assess potential ecosystem impacts, conflicts, or
opportunities with local industry (e.g., Grabb et al., 2025) and
infrastructure, and socioeconomic spin-offs for the local commu-
nities. Engagement with local communities is critically import-
ant through initiatives involving communication, education, out-
reach, and co-design. Globally, the OA community recognizes
that co-developed strategies are key for reef restoration, fisher-
ies resilience, nature-based projects, carbon strategies, pollution
control, and climate-responsive planning (Dobson et al., 2023;
IOC-UNESCO, 2024).
Transparent data and information reporting, particularly with
respect to successes and pitfalls, are essential in order to maximize
the potential for significant progress and ongoing social license in
this field. Carefully designed efforts to encourage strong collab-
oration and cooperation will help ensure that the critical com-
ponents of mCDR approaches, such as MRV and environmen-
tal impact assessment, are optimized. The recently established
GOA-ON mCDR working group will play a key role in bringing
these research areas together, helping to ensure that data and les-
sons learned from OA will inform mCDR research.
CONCLUSIONS
GOA-ON’s three high-level goals—understanding global ocean
acidification conditions, improving knowledge of ecosystem
responses, and optimizing modeling through data and knowl-
edge sharing—are also essential to the development and success of
mCDR research. These goals provide the foundational knowledge
and tools needed to ensure that mCDR efforts are environmentally
responsible, scientifically rigorous, and sustainable over the long
term. By contributing to better monitoring of marine carbonate
chemistry, ecosystem assessments, and predictive modeling, the
GOA-ON community facilitates safe development of mCDR tech-
nologies that mitigate climate change while safeguarding marine
ecosystems from unintended harm. This makes GOA-ON a vital
partner in the global effort to combat both OA and atmospheric
CO2 accumulation.
Key recommendations for mCDR research from the GOA-ON
community:
• Acknowledge that achieving precise estimates of changes in the
ocean carbon cycle remains difficult and necessitates access to
high-quality data and instrumentation, in terms of both preci-
sion and accuracy, and requires skilled practitioners.
• Invest in development of accessible, low-cost tools, as well as
human resources, to expand carbonate chemistry and biologi-
cal monitoring globally.