Description: Currently, the ocean carbon sink annually removes about a third of anthropogenic fossil fuel and industrial CO2 emissions, reducing therefore climate change damages and CO2 abatement costs. While the land sinks have entered climate policies, the ocean sink has not—for good reasons since the former stores carbon within the boundaries of a state while the ocean removes carbon from the atmosphere rather in its property as a global common. However, the question remains what is the value of the ocean carbon sink and should it be differently attributed when comparing a coastal state with a large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) compared to landlocked state. Here, we demonstrate different approaches to value the ocean sink, comparing a climate-change damage-based approach with an abatement, market-based approach. We use a high-resolution carbon flux dataset (0.25x0.25 degree) to estimate the ocean carbon sink and source in coastal areas. We assign a net sink of 1.72 GtC proportional to countries with negative carbon fluxes in their EEZ. In our calculation the annual value of the global ocean sink ranges from 61.19 B USD (Std 31.80), equivalent to the 2021 GDP of Slovenia, to 1433 B USD (Std 94.30), equivalent to the 2021 GDP of Spain (World Bank data) for the abatement cost-based assessment approach (assuming full emission trading and low ambition levels in the national determined contribution) and for the climate-change damage-based assessment approach relying on an upper value of the social cost of carbon in our investigation. By breaking down the carbon sink by nations EEZ we estimate which countries are the largest donors of ocean carbon wealth and which countries would be affected the most if a weakening of the ocean sink would need to be compensated by higher emission reduction levels.

Description: This deliverable provides a summary of a two-day expert workshop conducted in hybrid format. The workshop’s primary objective was aimed towards identifying future opportunities within the global ocean governance regime to strengthen governance of ocean-based NETs in a comprehensive manner. The workshop was organised by the Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS) as part of the work of Task 2.2 of the OceanNETs project. This deliverable follows a first online workshop (see Deliverable 2.3) that identified challenges within the current governance framework for ocean-based NETs. The second workshop consisted of breakout groups and plenary discussions designed to explore scenarios that reflect on identified governance challenges within the current and potential future global ocean governance regimes. Participants were asked to reflect on the concept of „good governance” and develop responses to the scenarios presented through specific prompts. They were encouraged to actively contribute to discussions that aimed to advance our understanding of the future governance of ocean-based NETs.

Description: Several legal frameworks exist that are important for states conducting ocean observing activities or for which it would be relevant to include the necessity of ocean observing activities and development of ocean information products. Existing hard and soft law frameworks and mechanisms will be analysed to enable adequate adaptation of ocean observing system design at a regional and global level, with a focus on supporting sustained ocean observing and fit-for-purpose ocean information products.

Description: Carbon accounting is essential for quantifying carbon removal and determining required offsets. The valuation goes beyond mere measurement, taking into account factors such as temporary storage and the social cost of carbon (SCC). These valuations inform the issuance of carbon offsets, but governance frameworks also play a role in their issuance. For ocean-based carbon removal methods, such as ocean iron fertilization and blue carbon projects, cost-benefit accounting supported by SCC assessments is appropriate. Challenges arise for integration compliance systems such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). To align compliance systems with carbon accounting, an intermediary institution could facilitate the purchase and resale of international offsets while managing non-permanent storage liabilities. Ocean alkalinity enhancement, among ocean-based CDR methods, may fit into net accounting if monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) challenges are addressed. A proposed MRV approach based on the regulation of nonpoint source pollution can address these concerns.

Description: This document presents the results of simulations that include glider profiles assimilation. Simulations are performed with the Marine Copernicus operational biogeochemical model system of the Mediterranean Sea. The deliverable shows that the assimilation of BGC-glider is feasible in the contest of biogeochemical operational systems and that it is built upon the experience of BGC-Argo float data assimilation. Different configuration of the assimilation of glider data have been tested to assess the impact of the physical and biogeochemical glider observations. The deliverable also describes the pre-processing activities of the BGC-glider data to provide qualified observations for the data assimilation and the cross validation of chlorophyll glider data with other sensors (ocean colour and BGC-Argo floats). Results of the simulations show that BGC-glider data assimilation, as already shown for BGC-Argo floats, provides complementary information with respect to Ocean Colour data (which is the only or the most commonly assimilated data in biogeochemical operational systems). Beside their relatively limited horizontal spatial impact, the assimilation of BGC profiles can constrain model simulations for relevant biogeochemical processes in specific periods (summer and transition periods) and layers (surface and subsurface). Results also highlight the importance of the assimilation modelling systems that can efficiently resolve the inconsistencies between chlorophyll observations of different sensors.

Description: The EuroSea project is improving the coordination of the European ocean observing and forecasting system to strengthen its capability of tacking the societal challenges related to ocean health, climate change, mitigation of ocean-related natural hazards, and the sustainable exploitation of marine ecosystem services in the Blue Economy. The scientific excellence of the project is based on its better integration, assimilation, coordination and governance of methods, practices, and instruments to collect fit-for-purpose ocean data and the development of innovative tools and solutions to manage some natural coastal risks and support more efficiently fisheries and aquaculture. The societal impact of the research and innovation activities carried out by the EuroSea consortium is enabled through the responsible research and innovation (RRI) policy concept implemented throughout the project progress development and, in particular, in the demonstrators work packages and in those activities focused on communication, dissemination, exploitation and legacy. This report summarizes how the six articulations of the RRI approach were applied so far in the EuroSea project. It also offers some recommendations to boost the societal benefits provided by inclusivity, equality, ethics, transparency and collaborative co-design and co-creation in the research and innovation process applied to ocean observing. Now, and even more in the future, it is necessary to multiply the opportunities to share knowledge and expertise among all transdisciplinary actors to be engaged in improving the European and global ocean observing and forecasting. Moreover, the emerging critical problems affecting the ocean require an increased public involvement through open access to ocean information, effective communication and dissemination of research findings, more diffuse ocean literacy and collective mobilisation. Only these factors seem to be able to establish the global common responsibility necessary to enhance the ocean sustainability, as advocated by the UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development supporting the achievement of the SDG 14 in the UN Agenda 2030.

Description: Limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires a large-scale removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The oceans have been proposed as one possible storage option, however, not without environmental consequences. Adverse impacts on ecosystems are expected to increase in the amount of carbon stored. The question arises whether the removed carbon should be stored in a small area, e.g. a bay, or spread out across the oceans. We study this question in an analytic model with two types of ocean boxes, characterised by their carbon content. Storing a lot of carbon in the small box (a bay) may cause the local ecosystem to cross a tipping point, whereas spreading out in the large box (the rest of the ocean) may avoid this, while still causing ecosystem damages. The model gives rise to two different steady state solutions. A “destroy” steady state, where the tipping point in the small ocean box has been crossed, and a “diffuse” steady state without destruction. We analytically and numerically study the optimal amount of carbon stored, and the optimal distribution of carbon sequestration across the two boxes.

Description: The Global Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) is a synthesis effort that provides high-quality, quality-controlled ocean biogeochemical bottle data with annual-updates, playing a crucial role in advancing our understanding of the Earth's oceans and their complex biogeochemical processes. This deliverable covers the GLODAP annual updates under the EuroSea funding, as well as the automatization of the quality control process of the data. Under the EuroSea funding, GLODAP has received three updates (GLODAPv2.2020, GLODAPv2.2021 and GLODAPv2.2022) with a total number of 245 cruises added, and in addition, a new version release (GLODAPv3) is planned. These updates were possible as a result of the large degree of automatization of the quality control process that ensures the accuracy of the data. The core of the quality control process is the crossover analysis that is currently performed via the 2nd QC Matlab toolbox from Lauvset and Tanhua (2015). However, following Eurosea’s vision of a user-focused, truly interdisciplinary, and responsive European ocean observing and forecasting system, this deliverable aims to migrate from the Matlab toolbox to an online web application based on the open-source software Django and Python. This will allow the user to simply upload the data file to be quality controlled and the web application performs the secondary quality control through the deep water crossover analysis just as in Matlab, and offers similar graphics for visualization. Because the crossover analysis is partially automated on this online tool, the users do not need to possess any programming knowledge in order to quality control their data. In addition, this online tool can be part of a fully automated GLODAP quality control process, without need for manual intervention.