By EDF Oceans By Rod Fujita and Kristin Kleisner  To mitigate climate change, sea level rise, and other environmental problems, some experts are looking to nature-based solutions. But which solutions are the most impactful when it comes to sequestering carbon? And what do we still need to learn to improve our scientific understanding of nature-based solutions?   We co-authored a recent peer-reviewed study that assessed the scientific foundations of blue carbon and other nature-based solution pathways. We found that our scientific understanding of the benefits of restoration and ..read more

By Monica Moritsch This past August, in southern Ecuador amidst dense mangrove forests, scientists were at work. As I followed in her footsteps, Julie Shahan, a Stanford University Ph.D. student, navigated the challenging terrain, burdened by the large 25-pound piece of equipment on her back. This equipment, a gas analyzer, collects measurements to unlock the secrets of soil greenhouse gas emissions. This journey was a collaborative effort between Universidad Espíritu Santo (UEES), Stanford University, Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Environmental Defense Fund. With thick mud underfoot ..read more

By EDF Oceans By Allison Shields (EDF), Catherine Bruger (Ocean Conservancy), and Chris McGuire (The Nature Conservancy) From smartwatches tracking our steps to news alerts on our phones to live traffic updates while driving, data has become central to our daily lives and how we interact with the world. For fishermen traveling miles offshore in search of fish, access to timely, accurate data is essential to their businesses, livelihoods, and communities. And now, from coast to coast, from commercial fishermen to weekend anglers, the fishing community is united by a common interest: fisheries ..read more

By Rod Fujita We’re seeing the impacts of climate change in real time. There is an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere to avoid more catastrophic climate change impacts. This will require both reductions in GHG emissions and the removal of GHGs from the atmosphere. In recent years, this need has driven interest in seaweed as a natural climate solution, as seaweed can absorb carbon and grow quickly.    But it’s not that simple. Seaweed mostly absorbs carbon dissolved in seawater – not atmospheric carbon. That means conditions have to be right to ..read more

By EDF Oceans By Jacqui Vogel (EDF) and Dr. Sarah Glaser (WWF) Oceans are under immense threat from climate change. Around the world, oceanographic changes like melting sea ice, warming waters, sea level rise and shifting fish populations make access to marine resources more uncertain and less secure. Climate change threatens to disrupt the communities, supply chains and food systems that rely on marine systems that are now rapidly changing. An impact of climate change is conflict in the ocean, including conflict over shifting and shrinking natural resources. Fisheries conflicts have increase ..read more

By EDF Oceans By Karly Kelso (EDF), Dr. Michelle Tigchelaar (Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions), and Dr. Malin Jonell (Stockholm Resilience Center) This piece was originally published in Swedish here.  The last few years have wrought havoc on the food supply, particularly for the people trapped in the cycle of poverty. COVID, climate change and conflict have disrupted supply chains, curtailed harvests and increased hunger. In 2022, 735 million people went hungry. We need to step up the pace and the financing for blue foods to protect the future of our food supply and our planet. Aquati ..read more

By Jacob Eurich Marine protected areas (MPA) are a conservation tool that sets aside part of the ocean to protect it for long-term conservation, similar to the way a state or national park functions on land. These MPAs are an effective way to preserve biodiversity by protecting ecosystems. But how are they utilized by people, and do they support human engagement? And, while conservation alone is important, will MPAs build climate resilience? With 124 MPAs, California has the world’s largest scientifically designed and functionally coherent network — a globally significant achievement — m ..read more

By Rod Fujita Seaweed is a hot solution for mitigating climate change. Can this carbon-absorbing powerhouse really help? Seaweed is having a moment. I’ve been working on seaweed for 40 years, and I’ve never seen so many headlines about how seaweed can save the planet.  I can understand why. The need to save the planet is more pressing than ever. We must now dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, increase the planet’s capacity to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to prevent even more catastrophic impacts of global warming.  Given this urgen ..read more

By EDF Oceans By Jose Luis Chicoma and Karly Kelso Last week, global leaders gathered in Rome for the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) +2 Stocktaking Moment, a follow-up event to evaluate commitments to transforming their food systems and progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) made in 2021. In short, it was a time to gather and take stock of where we are – and where we should go next. How did it shape up? In this interview, Jose Luis Chicoma, former Peru Minister of Production, Yale World Fellow and Senior Advisor to EDF Climate-Resilient Food Systems, who was present in ..read more

By EDF Oceans Nonprofit GreenWave supports training and innovation in ocean farming. By Ruth Driscoll-Lovejoy and Amy Folkerts Ocean farmers are making a splash in the sustainable seafood market — and they don’t need state-of-the-art facilities to do it.  Thimble Island Ocean Farm in Connecticut is a commercial seaweed and shellfish farm and serves as an innovation hub for GreenWave, a nonprofit replicating and scaling regenerative aquaculture. On a recent EDF visit, our team saw first-hand how GreenWave is expanding marine aquaculture while training and supporting ocean farmers. Accord ..read more