Blink:

COP27, the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference, is coming to a close today in Egypt. To stay current regarding our current climate crisis, I follow Lubomila Jordanova on LinkedIn who publishes a great newsletter The Climate of Business which I highly recommend. Her COP27 conference takeaways were wide-ranging.  

Read On:

Lubomila wrote in the newsletter: “I am leaving COP27 with a glass half full and a glass half empty.” A long- time attendee of the conference, she felt the empty part of the glass came from tepid new commitments and unfulfilled old commitments which failed to demonstrate the boldness needed in challenging times. However, progress is being made, but has been slow which led her to conclude after conversations with sustainability professionals in business, they will be the key stakeholder to address and fix the climate crisis. Therefore, she remains realistic a lot of work still needs to be done, but optimistic (glass half full) business has the capital, moves fast and will make decisions with the planet in mind.

I followed the two-week conference closely. What excited me the most was the number of articles published online about the current seaweed revolution and its potential role in fixing the climate crisis. I have been an advocate (now known as a Kelper) for seaweed since my first post on the topic back in 2019. First as a superfood, touted as the next kale. Currently, for its positive environmental impact; a planetary solution for being a carbon offset. Today I just want to briefly focus on what some scientists are researching:

• Seaweed’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. Field trials are being conducted to learn how to scale up seaweed cultivation as a climate solution.
• One strategy being scrutinized is carbon sequestration – cultivating seaweed and sinking it into the deep ocean. Interesting solution! Seaweed grows relatively quickly, requires no arable land, fresh water or fertilizers unlike planting trees (note: seaweed captures up to 20 times more carbon per acre than terrestrial forests). In addition, it is good for the ecosystem of the planet’s coastlines – protection via wave reduction, enhances fish production and marine biodiversity.

The potential of seaweed as one solution to help mitigate climate change still requires a lot of research to better understand its benefits to society and ocean ecosystems. As a Kelper, I plan to post seaweed success stories on a regular basis to keep my readership in the loop.

Opinions Welcomed!