From GOOS Milestones to a Collaborative 2026: Advancing Ocean Biogeochemistry Together

Dear Ocean Biogeochemistry Community,

Happy New Year!

As we set our sights on the challenges ahead in 2026, it is worth taking a moment to look back at the momentum we built last year, despite a wide variety of obstacles we had to overcome. While there are many metrics one could look at, the GOOS Status Report 2025 most clearly showcases our resilience and creativity.

This flagship GOOS report offers an interactive view of the global ocean observing system and calls on governments, funders, and partners to work together in strengthening the system for a resilient future. We believe that the 2025 Report and its future updates will be an invaluable tool for all of us when communicating with stakeholders.

A testament to our collective dedication, this year the GOOS Status Report features, for the first time, the Surface Ocean CO₂ Reference Observing Network (SOCONET) amongst its in-situ emerging networks. A new addition to GOOS, SOCONET uses a wide range of observing platforms to expand the number of high-quality surface water CO₂ measurements. These observations are critical for assessing ocean health and quantifying the ocean's role in mitigating increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

Beyond emerging networks, several mature networks featured in the report are already taking over 120,000 observations per day, many of which measure biogeochemical parameters. Building on this foundation, starting in 2026, we will work closely with our partners to optimize the design of the entire biogeochemical observing system across these networks. Our aim is to allow the delivery of the essential information required to address a growing range of societal applications and to protect our ocean in a changing planet.

Additionally, a key focus for IOCCP will be achieving cross-disciplinary integration (physics, biogeochemistry, and biology & ecosystem) within the observing system, and bridging existing gaps to foster greater collaboration among end-users, management, and policy-level stakeholders across all disciplines. This integration is crucial for building a fit-for-purpose, sustainable, and cost-effective system that transforms observations into actionable decision support tools across all scales and applications.

Looking ahead, we hope that many of you in our community will join us and our partners as we tackle a myriad of new tasks in 2026. Your involvement is what turns our goals into reality. Thanking you for your contributions in 2025, we can’t wait to see what we build together this year!