EPOC will generate a new conceptual framework for the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), to understand how it functions in the Earth system and impacts weather and climate. EPOC will capitalise on new understanding about the AMOC variability and coherence from two decades of AMOC observations and advances in ocean observing technology and climate modelling, to develop new tools and approaches to quantify and explain past AMOC change and how its connectivity or lack thereof imprint on the Earth system, heading for better predictions of the AMOC and related climate evolution, including the risk of rapid change.