Bringing together a multidisciplinary team made up of world-class ocean and blue carbon scientists, this ambitious five-year global research programme is the largest attempt yet to build a greater understanding of the properties and capabilities of the ocean and its continental shelves in the earth’s carbon cycle, in the urgent effort to slow climate change.
The ocean could be our staunchest ally in our fight against climate change, however its impact remains an unsolved yet fundamental question. In a time of global emergency, the seascape could provide much needed answers as well as nature-based solutions to the current climate crisis. Spearheaded by BLUE and the University of Exeter, and in collaboration with leading scientific institutions worldwide, the survey will provide timely, accurate, and open access data on the world’s seabed carbon stores.
This research is essential; studies have shown that ocean-based mitigation could provide up to a fifth of the solution needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and narrow the emissions gap. Yet the ocean seabed remains largely unprotected and seascape carbon is presently not accounted for in the inventories of carbon emissions compiled by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change.
Stephen Catlin, chairman and CEO of Convex said: “Anticipating and mitigating future risks is at the heart of what we do at Convex. Our ability to make informed decisions rests upon our access to and analysis of robust data – the same is true when combatting climate change.
Read more at: University of Exeter