UN report says the ocean's power to absorb carbon dioxide has already weakened

29 October 2026

A new United Nations report prepared ahead of the climate conference says the ocean is losing part of its ability to take in carbon dioxide.
The ocean absorbs about 30 per cent of the carbon dioxide released by human activity and about 90 per cent of the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases.
The report finds that climate change has already cut the ocean's carbon absorption capacity by about six per cent.
It names three ocean climate technologies, namely ocean monitoring, blue carbon ecosystems and marine carbon dioxide removal, and says the last of these is still highly uncertain.
Blue carbon ecosystems, which are mangroves, seagrass meadows and salt marshes, lock away about 407 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
The report calls for better ocean carbon intelligence, pointing to weak monitoring data in the Southern Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Arctic and many coastal areas.
It notes that Small Island Developing States cause less than one per cent of global emissions yet face the heaviest effects.