High-powered satellites have made blue-carbon credits a reality

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🗞️ Driving the news: The Bahamas announced last year its historic initiative to sell credits related to carbon capture and storage in its waters, capitalizing on its mangroves and seagrass meadows
• Satellites are being implemented to monitor and gather data to establish quantities of blue carbon stored

🔭 The context: Blue carbon, stored in marine and coastal ecosystems, has emerged as a crucial tool against the climate crisis
• McKinsey predicts over $50 billion worth of carbon credits will trade annually in the voluntary market

🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: Blue carbon could represent a fifth of the emission reductions needed to stay within 1.5 degrees of warming
• Ecosystems like mangroves and seagrass not only capture carbon but also mitigate climate change effects such as floods and sea-level rises

⏭️ What's next: With the blue-carbon ecosystem turning to advanced technologies, initiatives like the Global Seagrass Watch are working on bridging the data and scalability gaps in monitoring marine ecosystems

💬 One quote: "It's a bit like going from dial-up internet to 3G," Guy Wolf of OxCarbon comments on the evolution of satellite technology aiding blue carbon monitoring

📈 One stat: A report from the World Resources Institute in 2019 found that blue carbon could account for one-fifth of the emissions reductions required to remain within a 1.5-degree warming limit.

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