Researchers from around the world took part in a first-of-its-kind training course focused on the ecological impacts of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE), an emerging method for carbon dioxide (CO2) removal. Hosted by the IAEA’s Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) from 7 to 11 April 2025 at the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories in Monaco, the training course equipped scientists to evaluate the impacts of OAE on marine organisms.
Urgency is growing to curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. While drastically cutting CO2 emissions remains the highest priority, approaches are being explored to remove CO2 from the atmosphere as a part of the effort to address global warming. More recently, interest has grown in marine CO2 removal techniques that could harness the ocean to remove atmospheric CO2. But scientists still have major questions about the effectiveness and ecological impacts of these emerging techniques.
OAE is a marine CO2 removal method that has the potential to increase the ocean’s capacity to absorb atmospheric CO2 by changing ocean chemistry through the addition of alkaline materials, such as lime or olivine. OAE also has the potential to mitigate ocean acidification, which is the increase in ocean acidity driven by excess CO2 emissions that threatens marine ecosystems and coastal communities. However, the impacts of OAE on marine life are poorly understood.
