United States of America

The US federal government and coastal states have played a key role in documenting and responding to OA, generating best practices and learnings domestically and internationally. Advancing domestic OA action will better inform decision making about national mitigation, adaptation, and resilience goals.

In 2009, Congress passed the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act (FOARAM) that led to the creation of NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP); expanded nationwide research and monitoring, enabling regions to develop baseline knowledge and information sharing.

In 2016, the three West Coast U.S. States of California, Oregon and Washington launched the OA Alliance, bringing together governments and non-government partners to share information and advance the creation of OA Action Plans.

U.S. states and Tribal governments have been transforming climate-ocean policy ever since. Management of OA requires a nuanced understanding of ocean and coastal acidification and the relationships—or tradeoffs—between establishing new management tools and leveraging existing programs.

U.S governments and in-region partners are collaborating to identify and prioritize gaps in knowledge that will inform local intervention strategies and provide managers a more complete picture of local drivers, conditions, risks and solutions.

In 2022, the US joined the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance), committing to create a National OA Action Plan and calling upon other national governments to take domestic OA Actions. This has resulted in the creation of the National OA Action Planning Leadership Circle.