Ocean Visions has launched the Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Knowledge Platform, a free, openly accessible portal that consolidates the ocean-based carbon removal sector's fragmented project and actor data into a single resource. The platform replaces two earlier tools: the mCDR Field Trial Database, released in 2023, and the mCDR Ecosystem Database, released in 2024.

The consolidation matters because the underlying sector has outgrown its own record-keeping. The new platform carries a directory of nearly 300 actors operating in the marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) space, together with a mapping of the connections between them. For funders, policymakers and researchers trying to assess who is doing what in a field that spans nutrient fertilization, seaweed cultivation, ocean alkalinity enhancement and electrochemical approaches, that directory is now the most complete public inventory available.

The platform's core features are functional rather than decorative. An interactive map plots past and present mCDR field trials alongside actor locations, giving users a geographic view of where experimental capacity actually sits rather than where it is claimed. Interactive and downloadable graphs and figures support sector-level analysis of trends and connectivity. The datasets are designed for reuse — the downloadable format means analysts can work with the material directly rather than transcribing it.

Ocean Visions positions the tool as the sector's central repository, and the claim has some basis. "As the mCDR field has grown, there are more actors, projects, data, and information. But until now, no central repository existed to make this 'innovation ecosystem' more visible and accessible," said Ocean Visions CEO Brad Ack.

"This user-friendly platform provides a single portal with an integrated view of the mCDR landscape, making critical information more accessible and transparent for this dynamic field," Ack added.

Development was led by Ocean Visions Program Officer Amelia-Juliette Demery. Her framing ties the platform directly to research quality and permitting decisions — the two choke points for a sector still largely in the field-trial phase.

"Marine carbon dioxide removal holds significant promise, so it's important to understand who is doing what, where, when, and how," Demery said. "The mCDR Knowledge Platform helps answer key questions about the field's activity and enables more rigorous and responsible research and decision-making."

The target audience is deliberately broad: researchers, innovators, funders, policymakers and journalists. For permitting agencies and regulators in jurisdictions hosting mCDR trials, a consolidated trial map with historical coverage offers a faster route to precedents — which trials ran, where, and under whose auspices. For funders, the actor directory and connectivity data expose where concentration risks and collaboration gaps sit across the near-300-entity ecosystem.

The platform is not a static release. Ocean Visions says it will update the resource as the ocean-based carbon removal field matures, with users able to submit feedback or suggest edits through built-in submission forms. That crowd-correction mechanism effectively delegates part of the data maintenance burden to the sector itself — a reasonable approach for a field where project status changes quickly.

The near-term signal to watch is whether the platform's trial map keeps pace with the sector's expansion. mCDR remains a field where built capacity is modest, announced projects outnumber operating ones, and credibility depends on transparent accounting of what has actually gone into the water. A single, continuously updated registry of trials and actors — if maintained — becomes the reference point against which both industry claims and regulatory scrutiny can be checked.