Earlier this year, Carbon to Sea hosted our fourth Annual Convening in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. In the months since, our team has been compiling a comprehensive report of key insights shared. This Convening Proceedings document captures three days of site visits, presentations, panel discussions, and workshops, identifying progress made and future challenges the field must overcome in order to build a responsible oCDR sector. 

Download the 2026 Annual Convening Proceedings

Several of the key takeaways highlighted in the report include:

  • The OAE sector continues to grow. In just a few years, lab and mesocosm studies have developed a stronger understanding of OAE’s environmental safety and efficacy. As a result, researchers, companies, and buyers have coalesced around shared approaches to measuring and modeling OAE.
  • Field research is no longer a pipe dream. Early field trials show that current pilots are carefully planned, that rigorous environmental monitoring is possible, and that CDR is quantifiable through a combination of direct measurements and bespoke modeling. 
  • New perspectives are strengthening the field. The OAE community is growing. Today we have coordinated, robust research happening around the world, an emerging startup ecosystem with ties to academia, increasing attention from governments, and genuine engagement from Indigenous communities, the fishing industry, and other ocean users.
  • Key questions remain. Although major research progress has been made, knowledge gaps in OAE efficacy and safety persist. International governance frameworks still need to evolve, and increased public funding is needed to promote responsible and objective research. Meeting these challenges will require sustained coordination across sectors, geographies, and systems of governance.

This year’s Convening reinforced the urgency of exploring OAE’s potential, along with the need for continued cooperation and knowledge sharing to ensure OAE and other ocean-based carbon removal pathways are developed responsibly. Throughout three days of dialogue, participants expressed growing optimism about the path forward.

“In remarkably little time, OAE has moved from an idea to a sector,” writes Carbon to Sea’s Executive Director, Antonius Gagern, in the Convening Proceedings Report. “OAE is entering a new stage of development: one marked by a growing circle of participants, each with perspectives that will shape science, governance, and the field as a whole, and for the better.”

Read the full Proceedings report and watch video recordings of select presentations from the 2026 Annual Convening featured in the report.