Integrated Ocean Carbon Research: a vision primed for implementation

Suntharalingam, Parvadha, Bakker, Dorothee C. E. and Williamson, Phillip (2026) Integrated Ocean Carbon Research: a vision primed for implementation. UNESCO.

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

The mission of the ‘Integrated Ocean Carbon Research’ (IOC-R) programme is to enhance our understanding of the ocean as a changing sink for human-produced CO2 and its climate change mitigation capacity, as well as the vulnerability of ocean ecosystems to increasing CO2 levels. The IOC-R programme aims to provide an actionable foundation for addressing the challenges of ocean carbon research. In doing so, it is contributing to the objectives of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development by integrating the latest scientific findings and observational data for ocean carbon. Supported by interdisciplinary research, the understanding of the ocean carbon cycle has advanced significantly since the last release of a report from the IOC-R community (IOC of UNESCO, 2021; Sabine et al., 2024). However, major knowledge and observational gaps remain, leading to considerable uncertainties in model projections. These hamper the development of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, including those involving ocean based solutions. The IOC-R programme itself is co-sponsored by five international research and coordination programmes which have a strong involvement and focus on ocean carbon (Global Carbon Project1, SOLAS2, IMBeR3, CLIVAR4 and IOCCP5) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC)6. This IOC-R report is a global community effort with 72 authors and 13 reviewers from 23 countries. The report aims to guide the scientific focus of these programmes, as well as GOOS7, and to highlight new global crosscutting priorities of ocean carbon research that help national and international ocean science funding entities determine future areas of investment. It will accomplish this by identifying knowledge gaps and coordinated research approaches to increase understanding about the ocean carbon cycle in a changing world. The IOC-R community has defined five focus areas for ocean carbon research (Figure ES1), which will be further developed and explained in the report (Section 3): 1. Evolution of the ocean carbon sink under a changing climate, 2. The changing role of biology in the ocean carbon cycle, 3. Carbon exchanges across the land-ocean-ice continuum, 4. The impact of ocean industrial processes on the ocean bio logical carbon cycle, 5. Future changes in the carbon cycle from deliberate ocean-based climate interventions. In order to close the knowledge gaps identified within each focus area, a series of internationally co-ordinated approaches are required. These prioritised approaches (Section 4) are : • Support for sustained ocean carbon observing systems, • Integration of sensor technologies and platforms, • Enhancement and co-ordination of carbon observing and synthesis products, • Next level biological process studies and experiments, and • Improved ocean carbon cycle models.

Item Type:	Book
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Collaborative Centre for Sustainable Use of the Seas Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	09 Mar 2026 16:31
Last Modified:	15 Mar 2026 07:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/102278
DOI:	10.71245/FULK2623

Actions (login required)

View Item