External publications

Open science for the ocean: recommendations from the perspective of marine carbon observations in Germany, Brazil, and beyond

in: Marine Policy 178, first published 21.04.2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106736
Open access

The ocean plays an essential role in regulating the global climate, absorbing around 25 % of global CO₂ emissions. Scientific knowledge of the ocean’s capacity as a carbon sink is therefore essential for policy-making at the national and international level. However, the capacity of the existing marine science system to deliver this information at sufficiently high quality, without geographical and temporal gaps, and with equitable contributions by and access for less affluent national science systems, is far from assured. This contribution applies the six guiding principles of Open Science as a yardstick for science in the service of society to assess the current state of marine (carbon) science, pointing out strengths and shortcomings, and deriving specific recommendations for science policy. This contribution results from a three-year interdisciplinary research project with researchers from Brazil and Germany and was discussed within the UN Ocean Decade Program Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS) to validate the applicability of insights and recommendations beyond these particular contexts.

About the IDOS authors

Schoderer, Mirja

Environmental Research

Hägele, Ramona

Political Scientist

Hornidge, Anna-Katharina

Development and Knowledge Sociology

Further IDOS experts

Aleksandrova, Mariya

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Banerjee, Aparajita

Environmental and Resource Sociology, Public Policy 

Brandi, Clara

Economy and Political Science 

Büscher, Chris

Development studies / Political ecology 

Dippel, Beatrice

Comparatist 

Donnelly, Aiveen

Politcal Science 

Ekoh, Susan S.

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Fuhrmann-Riebel, Hanna

Economy 

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International Relations 

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Geography 

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Ecological economics 

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Energy and Environmental Policy