Accelerating Ocean Innovation to Achieve Net-Zero
WHO ARE WE?
BLUE CARBON Platform (“BLUE CARBON”) is a Montreal-based startup. The venture’s goal is to become the leading global platform that connects all stakeholders to leverage innovation, entrepreneurship, and youth to accelerate the ocean as a crucial solution to fight climate change and achieve Net-Zero. BLUE CARBON’s “Flagship” blue carbon credit is the foundational pillar of the enterprise’s innovative physical and digital platform (“phygital”). BLUE CARBON’s official launch is scheduled for Fall 2023.
WHY ARE OCEANS CRUCIAL TO CLIMATE CHANGE?
Oceans have absorbed much of the carbon dioxide people have released into the atmosphere, slowing the rate of warming. Estimates reveal oceans contain 60 times more carbon than the atmosphere. But oceans cannot continue to soak up CO2 indefinitely, and there are growing signs that the rate of absorption is slowing. Additionally, when CO2 reacts with surface water, it creates carbonic acid, which is causing ocean waters to become more acidic. Such ocean acidification is harmful to marine life, especially coral reefs. The oceanic carbon cycle involves complex chemical, thermal, and biological processes which ultimately migrate atmospheric CO2 emissions to the deep seafloor in the form of carbon reservoirs or into the biomass and underlying sediment of coastal blue carbon ecosystems.
WHAT ARE BLUE CARBON ECOSYSTEMS?
The term “blue carbon” technically refers to the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems. The main blue carbon ecosystems - mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses - play a vital role in the biodiversity and livelihoods of coastal communities but are particularly important for their capacity to store a significant amount of carbon within the plants and the sediments below. Large reservoirs of carbon, in the form of dissolved CO2, bicarbonate, and methane are stored outside of these coastal ecosystems in kelp and seaweed forests, coral reefs and the ocean floor.
KEY FACTS
83%
Global Carbon
83% of the global carbon cycle is circulated through the ocean.
2%
Area Coverage
Blue carbon ecosystems globally contribute $190 billion annually.
$190B
Economic Value
Blue carbon ecosystems cover less than 2% of the total ocean area.
10x
Blue carbon ecosystems sequester carbon at a rate 10 times greater than terrestrial forests.
Sequestration Rate
50%
Blue carbon ecosystems account for 50% of the total carbon sequestered in ocean sediments, 2-4 times more than terrestrial forests.
Sequestered Carbon
20%
Blue carbon ecosystems release 1 billion tons of C02 annually, equivalent to 20% of emissions from tropical deforestation globally.
C02 Emmisions
$50B
Voluntary carbon markets are projected to reach $50 billion per year by 2030.
Voluntary Carbon Market
3-5x
Blue carbon ecosystems store 3-5 times more carbon per equivalent area than tropical forests.
Carbon Storage
THE PROBLEM
Over the last few decades, oceans and coasts have come under pressure from atmospheric and marine warming, habitat destruction, pollution, and the impacts of overfishing and industrial activity. When degraded or destroyed by these destructive factors, blue carbon ecosystems emit the carbon they have stored for centuries into the atmosphere and oceans. As the oceans’ temperature rises and these destructive conditions continue, there is the potential that large reservoirs of carbon stored within the deep ocean could be released uncontrollably into the atmosphere and create what has been termed, “runaway global warming”.
LEADERSHIP IS NEEDED
The magnitude of the problem coupled with the narrowing window calls for social and tech entrepreneurs to join forces. These frontline players are best equipped to advance high impact research projects and establish ocean deep-tech startups. Together, they can break down entrenched stakeholder silos and build-up connected ocean-tech startup ecosystems. A new type of leadership is needed to tackle climate change that is imaginative, innovative, and inclusive.
NARROWING WINDOW
The most recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report made it clear that the window of opportunity has narrowed to keep from passing a dangerous temperature threshold. The report stated the world is likely to surpass the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the early 2030s. Given this situation, blue carbon projects and ocean deep technologies must be prioritized and accelerated as a cost effective, expedient, and scalable market and nature-based solution to achieve net-zero.
THE SOLUTION
The science supporting blue carbon sequestration is mounting at the same time as carbon credit markets are taking shape. Adding to this tailwind are recent high-profile blue carbon credit offset projects financed by Apple, Proctor & Gamble, and Salesforce. This convergence is happening in a post-COVID accelerated digital transformation world and the rise of the platform community business model. These developments dramatically shrink the complexity and timeframe to scale. BLUE CARBON recognizes the opportunity these prevailing and seismic societal forces present and has developed an innovative approach to accelerate blue carbon solutions to achieve Net-Zero.
