Our leading initiative is our commitment to the global seaweed farming community.
We're leading the global effort to quantify seaweed carbon sequestration.
Through a groundbreaking study, we will deliver evidence and the methodology to validate and monetize the carbon sequestration impact of ocean farming.
Introducing the Seaweed Carbon Farming Project.
image: Oceans Farmers Madagascar, Ben Jennings
We have launched a groundbreaking global study that will help restore abundance to the world’s ocean while advancing climate restoration through seaweed aquaculture.
This study builds on Professor Duarte’s research, featured in Nature, on ocean restoration by further assessing the role of seaweed aquaculture as a key recovery wedge for the world’s oceans and the climate. These efforts will set the robust scientific foundation to support the development of a new voluntary carbon protocol for seaweed aquaculture, which will be a public good and allow seaweed farmers to monetize the carbon impact of their activities for the first time.
The 15-month study quantififes carbon sequestration by seaweed in a global network of leading seaweed scientists and seaweed farm operators who are sampling sediments, advancing the science and ultimately creating market incentives for seaweed aquaculture as a solution to helping address the climate crisis while contributing to ocean restoration.
With funding from Climateworks Foundation and Grantham Environmental Trust, the project assembled a network of 23 farms spread across all continents Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, China and S. Korea), Europe (France, Denmark and Norway), North America (Canada and USA), South America (Chile) and Africa, (Madagascar). Together with the farmers and our research partners, we developed a methodology to assess carbon sequestration based on the accumulation of carbon stocks, analyzed by Prof. Antonio Delgado, at the Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences (Granada, Spain), and the age of the different soil horizons, assessed by Dr. Pere Masque, from the International Atomic Energy Agency of the UN, in Monaco.
After significant delays through the difficulties of executing global sampling logistics during a pandemic, the first stage of science has been completed. While official publication will take a few more weeks for peer-review, the initial results were presented on Seaweed Day during Monaco Ocean Week on March 23.
The live recording of the event can be viewed here, starting at minute 1:06:00 :
In relation to the project, Prof. Duarte et al published A seaweed aquaculture imperative to meet global sustainability targets in Nature sustainabilty on October 07, 2021.
Abstract
Seaweed aquaculture accounts for 51.3% of global mariculture production and grows at 6.2% yr−1 (2000–2018). It delivers a broad range of ecosystem services, providing a source of food and natural products across a range of industries. It also offers a versatile, nature-based solution for climate change mitigation and adaptation and for counteracting eutrophication and biodiversity crisis. Here we offer the perspective that scaling up seaweed aquaculture as an emission capture and utilization technology, one supporting a circular bioeconomy, is an imperative to accommodate more than 9 billion people in 2050 while advancing across many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“We have a narrow window of opportunity to deliver a healthy ocean to our grandchildren’s generation, and to create sustainable enterprises along the way. This study will help accelerate progress by creating evidence-based pathways to restore oceans and the climate through innovative, market-based sustainability solutions."
- Dr. Carlos Duarte
Meet Our Partner Seaweed Farms
Canada
Cascadia Seaweed 1
Cascadia Seaweed 2
Chile
Maulin River
Pudeto River
China
Taohua Island - Province Zhejiang
Dongtou - Province Zhejiang
Ningde - Province Fujian
Denmark
Hjarnø Hage
France
Algolesko
Indonesia
Nain Island
Seriwe Bay
Japan
Ariake Sea
Seto Inland Sea
Tokyo Bay
Korea
Myengji - Busan
Dadae - Busan
Mundong-ri - Busan
Madagascar
Ocean Farmers
Malaysia
Semporna
Norway
Seaweed Solutions AS
USA
Atlantic Sea Farms
"We are proud of our global network of seaweed farms, involving about 27,000 farmers; the first ever of this nature, which has allowed to assess carbon sequestration benefits but also has provided evidence of the huge positive social impact seaweed farming brings about to coastal communities, empowering the role of women, who are the majority of seaweed farmers, in the communities.”
- Alexandra Cousteau
It's All About Results
Following the study and based on its results, we will develop and submit for approval a methodology in the voluntary carbon offset market. Once approved, the methodology will make possible the issuance of carbon credits by seaweed farms to global buyers, enabling these restorative enterprises to benefit financially from the tons of CO2 their farms currently sequester; creating a new, scalable blue carbon market; and catalyzing global expansion of this sustainable solution to climate change and ocean degradation.
The ocean can, and must, play a profound role in climate restoration.
The ocean has absorbed 25% of carbon emitted since the Industrial Revolution.
The vast majority of nature-based solutions to the climate crisis have focused on land.
"Creating carbon credits for seaweed farming will allow corporations and others to invest in blue carbon credits at a much larger scale than is available today, and with very meaningful co-benefits in the restoration of the oceans and the livelihoods of all that depend on them."
- Megan Reilly Cayten, Oceans 2050 Project Lead
Introducing Our Supporting Partners
The Seaweed Carbon Farming Project is supported by the ClimateWorks Foundation and the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust.
ClimateWorks Foundation
The ClimateWorks Foundation is a global platform for philanthropy to innovate and accelerate climate solutions that scale. We deliver global programs and services that equip philanthropy with the knowledge, networks, and solutions to drive climate progress. Since 2008, ClimateWorks has granted over $1 billion to more than 500 grantees in over 40 countries.
Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust
The Trust supports charities whose mission is environmental protection, with particular focus on the developing world. Jeremy and Hannelore are both actively involved in setting the strategic direction of the Grantham Trust and the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment.
“Seaweed cultivation is gaining momentum as a potentially scalable nature-based solution to carbon dioxide removal but we know far too little about its real sequestration potential. On my knowledge, this Oceans 2050 project is the most ambitious and robust study to date estimating the pre-harvest sequestration benefit of macro algae cultivation."
- Antonius Gagern, CEA Consulting, Consultant to ClimateWorks Foundation
The Importance of Seaweed
Science on environmental benefits of seaweed farming lead by Professor Carlos M. Duarte.
“Oceans 2050’s vision is to implement a step change in the scale up of seaweed aquaculture – creating the enabling conditions for millions of people around the globe to become ocean farmers. Doing so will set seaweed farming on track to sequester gigatons of carbon CO2, help to restore abundance to the ocean and create a new, socially just blue economy to help feed and power the world in a regenerative way.”
- Alexandra Cousteau