North Atlantic Carbon Observatory

A multinational platform to deliver comprehensive, sustained and integrated ocean carbon measurements to:

Improve

Climate forecasts

to better inform climate strategies and reduce uncertainty of extreme climate-related events

Support accountable

Marine carbon dioxide removal

by improving credibility, unlocking investments, and scaling carbon removal to realize climate impact

The platform

To achieve these outcomes, the North Atlantic Carbon Observatory (NACO) will link intergovernmental agencies, industry, and research to deliver ocean carbon measurements at basin and climate-relevant scales.

Facilitate

observation co-design with scientists, observation networks, and industry

Fund

ocean carbon observation with sustainable blended finance business model

Operationalize

robust and continuous observing and data infrastructure

Deliver

standardized and integrated data products and scientific advisory services

The approach

The platform will work across existing ocean observing networks, ocean technology and data providers, and with end-users to fund and operationalize required sensing needs.

Leverage

existing observation networks

Enhance

current networks with more sensing capability

Expand

with new strategically placed sensing systems

Integrate

data across all networks to enable new insights

Solving fundamental challenges

NACO will deliver scientific integrity and data to inform critical ocean decision-making and effective climate change mitigation response for governments, industry and the public.

Preliminary use cases

A list of use cases has been developed in consultation with a network of international scientific advisors and end-users.

NACO will aim to solve these specific problems by operationalizing fit-for-purpose sensing.

Forecast the carbon sequestration potential of the North Atlantic to refine current estimates of the global carbon budget and climate forecasts
Observe the vertical flux changes and sea-floor organic carbon absorption at the sea floor
Improve climate forecasts through enhanced observations of changing Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) under new freshwater/warming ocean conditions
Ongoing (near) real-time measurement of essential ocean variables and state estimates to improve earth system models and global climate forecasts
Environmental monitoring of critical ocean ecosystems and high seas Marine Protected Areas

Assess the carbon sequestration potential for specific marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) pathways in the North Atlantic
Identify the optimal large-scale deployment sites for specific mCDR pathways
Estimate the current and forecasted carbon flux at basin scale in the North Atlantic to support credible and accountable measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) process for large-scale mCDR deployments
Validation data to build skill and trust in basin-scale models and reduce discrepancies between observations and models
Environmental monitoring of critical ocean ecosystems and high seas Marine Protected Areas

Our team

Leadership team

Strategic advisory team

Ted Janulis

Founder and Principal,

Investable Oceans

Julie Pullen

Partner and Chief Scientist,

Propeller Ventures

Mike Kelland

Founder and Chief Executive Officer,

Planetary Technologies

Laurent Bopp

Director of Geosciences,

The École Normale Supérieure

Director of Research,

Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace

Susan Lozier

President,

American Geophysical Union

Dean,

College of Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology

Adam Thompson

Partner,

Global Sustainable Finance

Environmental, Social, and Governance Leader,

IBM Consulting

Martin Koehring

Former Head, World Ocean Initiative,

The Economist

Craig McLean

Former Chief Scientist,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Former Head of United States Delegation,

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO

Torsten Thiele

Ocean Finance and Governance Leader

Founder,

Global Ocean Trust

Simon Freeman

Program Director,

Advanced Research Project Agency Energy (ARPA-E)

Get involved

We are actively working to:

Develop a partner ecosystem across government, industry and research sectors
Raise funds to support the foundational design work needed over the coming years.

View brochure

North Atlantic Carbon Observatory

The platform

The approach