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What’s it like inside a room full of start-ups, scientists, and policymakers, all interested in advancing ocean CO2 removal? Check out our Research Program Lead Xu Ben Zhang’s takeaways and highlights from this year’s Advancing Ocean CDR Summit in Boston last week! Some of the many takeaways: 👉 At the conference, the biggest portion of the startups present in ocean CDR were those focusing on Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement space, a nascent but promising way for sequestering carbon. One major challenge for this type of solution is ensuring the intervention causes no other harm to the environment, and navigating complex permit processes. 👉We still need to find a common language around ocean CO2 removal, especially between scientists and investors. Approaching investors can be difficult if we don’t know how to communicate the impact or the economics well. It’s important to build bridges for understanding, balancing scientific rigour with accessible language. 👉Community engagement is key to the success of these projects. Like any other climate change mitigation solution, ocean-based carbon removal technology requires multi-stakeholder collaboration. Including invested communities and ensuring they are involved and can benefit from these solutions is key to successfully implementing ocean-based solutions. The highlights: 💡Nichole Price of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences shared the latest research on the carbon sequestration potential of seaweed farms in Maine, including the use of eDNA to identify sugar kelp in samples, and how we as an industry can collaboratively work towards rigorous Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) methods. 💡Nate Beatty presented a retrospective of the trials and tribulations at Running Tide: from the extensive research done on their experiments whilst contributing to the wider research landscape, to the challenges of operating and doing something innovative at sea, and selecting an appropriate MRV method in a time where none was available. Xu also participated in the panel discussion, "Breaking Down Silos Between CDR Stakeholders”, alongside Katie Lebling from World Resources Institute and Calum Fitzgerald of Ecopia Marine Limited, where they discussed how to close the gap between carbon credit suppliers and takers. Have any questions about the event? Ask away below! #CDR #carbonremoval #bluecarbon #kelp #nature #marinescience #netzero