Description: This deliverable is a synthesis report of the research undertaken in OceanNETs Task 2.2. The report presents an extended governance framework surrounding ocean-based negative emissions technologies (NETs) and recommendations for establishing a comprehensive approach to governing the potential future deployment of ocean-based NETs, including by observing principles of ‘good governance’. The extended governance framework builds on an analysis of eight ocean- based NETs in terms of their impact on the marine environment and related ecosystem services. Building on the analysis of gaps and challenges identified for governing a potential future deployment of NETs at global scale, principles for the ‘good governance’ of ocean-based NETs were developed. Results were derived from desk-based research and a participatory approach of stakeholder consultation and engagement, including through dialogue and scenario workshops organized and hosted by the Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam (RIFS). In a separate policy brief (D2.6), the findings of this report were condensed and tailored to communicate recommendations for action for European and international policy makers tasked with governing potential deployment of ocean-based NETs.

Description: This cruise was conducted as part of the educational training of fishers in the framework of the transdisciplinary SeaRanger program which is scientifically accompanied by the Institute of marine ecosystem and fisheries Science (IMF) at the University of Hamburg (UHAM), the Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Centre for Ocean and Society (CeOS), the Thuenen-Institute for Baltic Sea fisheries (TI-OF), and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) in the framework of the joint project SpaCeParti (Coastal Fishery, Biodiversity, Spatial Use and Climate Change: A Participative Approach to navigate the Western Baltic Sea into a Sustainable Future; Grant no. 03F0914) funded by the BMBF. In order to give the fishermen as realistic an application of the standard monitoring techniques as possible, the trip was planned in such a way that the training part was integrated into a scientific monitoring programme focussing on the spawning activity of fish in the Belt Sea. By sampling a standardised station grid contributing to the joint long-term sampling efforts in the Western Baltic Sea which are internationally coordinated by the WBCF (Western Baltic cod Forum), the fishers learned how plankton, fish and water samples are taken, preserved, and analysed and gained a comprehensive insight into the hydrography and fauna of the western Baltic. Similar to the previous cruise AL606 in January 2024 conducted by the IMF no cod larvae and generally less larvae compared to previous years were observed in the Bongo 500 μm net samples from the Plankton grid stations, potentially indicating a delayed spawning activity of fish in the Belt Sea potentially related to the comparably low water temperatures in winter 2023/24.

Description: To limit global warming to 1.5°C, vast amounts of CO2 will have to be removed from the atmos‐ phere via Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). Enhancing the CO2 sequestration of ecosystems will require not just one approach but a portfolio of CDR options, including so‐called nature‐based approaches alongside CDR options that are perceived as more technical. Creating a CDR “supply curve” would however imply that all carbon removals are considered to be perfect substitutes. The various co‐benefits of nature‐based CDR approaches militate against this. We discuss this aspect of nature‐based solutions in connection with the enhancement of blue carbon ecosys‐ tems (BCE) such as mangrove or seagrass habitats. Enhancing BCEs can indeed contribute to CO 2 sequestration, but the value of their carbon storage is low compared to the overall contri‐ bution of their ecosystem services to wealth. Furthermore, their property rights are often un‐ clear, i.e. not comprehensively defined or not enforced. Hence, payment schemes that only compensate BCE carbon sequestration could create tradeoffs at the expense of other im‐ portant, often local, ecosystem services and might not result in socially optimal outcomes. Ac‐ cordingly, one chance for preserving and restoring BCEs lies in the consideration of all services in potential compensation schemes for local communities. Also, local contexts, management structures, and benefit‐sharing rules are crucial factors to be considered when setting up inter‐ national payment schemes to support the use of BCEs and other nature‐ or ecosystem‐based CDR. However, regarding these options as the only hope of achieving more CDR will very prob‐ ably not bring about the desired outcome, either for climate mitigation or for ecosystem preser‐ vation. Unhalted degradation, in turn, will make matters worse due to the large amounts of stored carbon that would be released. Hence, countries committed to climate mitigation in line with the Paris targets should not hide behind vague pledges to enhance natural sinks for re‐ moving atmospheric CO2 but commit to scaling up engineered CDR.

Description: SIPRI’s Environment of Peace initiative focuses on managing the risks that are created by two interwoven crises: the darkening security horizon and the immense pressures being placed on the natural world and the systems that support life on earth. The Environment of Peace research report is an in-depth look at the evidence base and analysis of the policy report Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk, including many real-world case studies. The report is the result of two years’ work by more than 30 researchers, led and guided by some of the leading voices in the fields of environment and security. Accessibly designed, the new research report is available to download in four parts: Elements of a Planetary Emergency (part 1); Security Risks of Environmental Crises (part 2); Navigating a Just and Peaceful Transition (part 3); and Enabling an Environment of Peace (part 4). This part—Security Risks of Environmental Crises (part 2)—shows how combinations of environmental and security phenomena are generating complex risks. Through a theoretical framework informed by the literature, Cedric de Coning, Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), and his team explore different pathways from environmental stress to conflict and how the darkening security horizon and environmental crises are interacting to generate different types of risk: compound, cascading, emergent, systemic and existential. The analysis is supported by numerous case studies, spanning a variety of social-ecological systems and different types of risks. Part 2 also discusses options for responding to these complex risks.

Description: The publication provides a summary on the state of the climate indicators in 2021 including global temperatures trends and its distribution around the globe; most recent finding on Green House Gases concentration, Ocean indicators; Cryosphere with a particular emphasis on Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, greenland ice sheet and glaciers and snow cover; Stratospheric Ozone; analysis of major drivers of inter-annual climate variability during the year including the El Niño Souther Oscillation and other Ocean and Atmshperic indices; global precipitation distribution over land; extreme events including those related to tropical cyclones and wind storms; flooding, drought and extreme heat and cold events. The publication also provides most recent finding on climate related risks and impacts including on food security, humanitarian and population displacement aspects and impact on ecosystems.

Description: MARIA S. MERIAN Cruise MSM106 was conceptualized as a joint research and curricular education cruise. The training component of MSM106 was part of the curriculum of the international Master program "Climate Change and Marine Sciences", which is currently being implemented at Universiade Técnica do Atlãntico (UTA) in Cabo Verde within the framework of the BMBF-funded WASCAL program ("West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use"). Students from 12 West African countries participated in this cruise. Several modules of the curriculum were taught theoretically and practically at sea. Throughout the cruise West African students got involved in the different research components of MSM106. First, a mooring and an autonomous surface vehicle equipped with novel instrumentation for pCO 2 analysis got deployed at Nola Seamount near the Cabo Verdean Island Santo Antao to carry out a 3-month long test deployment. After ADCP and hydroacoustic biomass surveys near the archipelago an anticyclonic mode-water eddy near CVOO was investigated intensively (incl. CTD section, biogeochemical & ecological samplings). A full time-series sampling was conducted at CVOO as well. After this, daily stations along the transit towards Germany were carried out. Off Canary Islands the ESTOC time-series site was sampled, followed by another eddy survey off Portugal main land. The daily station scheme was continued along the transit to Bremerhaven. Off the Rhine River delta an extended sampling for microplastics has been conducted.