Appendix B: Carbon Sequestration as a Method of Impact

What is carbon sequestration?

Carbon dioxide is the most commonly produced greenhouse gas. Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the goal of reducing global climate change.

We know that human activities are linked to the changes occurring in our “natural greenhouse.” Our ability to not only reduce or eliminate our greenhouse gas emissions, but sequester carbon, holds the potential to transform innovations from carbon negative to positive. There are three possible ways to sequester carbon – biological sequestering (currently oceans and trees each absorb 25% carbon dioxide emitted), geological sequestering (process of storing carbon dioxide in rocks) and technological sequestering (advanced technology that will allow capturing carbon from the air).

43% of Fellows are actively sequestering carbon, making it one of the top methods of impact across all respondents. Fellows are transforming the way they—and their communities — work by exploring the way carbon sequestration can be applied to traditional industries like fishing and construction.

Carbon Sequestration in Action

Bren Smith, Co-Founder and CoExecutive Director of GreenWave, is a pioneer of regenerative ocean farming. He is building a blue-green economy centered on a farming system that grows a mix of seaweeds and shellfish requiring zero inputs—no freshwater, fertilizer, or feed—while also sequestering carbon and rebuilding reef ecosystems. The magic ingredient in GreenWave’s model? Kelp—a sea green that grows like weeds, sucks carbon and nitrogen out of our waters, and has a variety of uses as a nutritious addition to our dinner plates, in fertilizers and animal feeds, plastic alternatives, and more. GreenWave trains and supports regenerative ocean farmers in the era of climate change. A lifelong fisherman who grew up working on boats and in large-scale aquaculture farms in Newfoundland, Bren experienced the destruction of the ocean by factory trawlers and decline of fishing as a livelihood. Then he began searching for a sustainable way to work the seas and breathe life back into our oceans. His holistic perspective on redemption and innovation paves a path forward for everyone to be part of the climate action movement.

I often tell my story as one of ecological redemption from pillager of the seas to climate farmer, but we’re all having to come to terms with the same reality now. And it’s not about assigning blame – for example to the coal workers or fishermen that supported the extractive economy we’ve all depended on. For me, and for all of us, it should be about stepping into an exciting opportunity to remake ourselves. This is an opportunity to create millions of jobs – ones that we can write and sing songs about – and revamp our economy in fundamental ways.

Bren Smith, Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder, GreenWave Ashoka Fellow

Photo Courtesy of Bren Smith / GreenWave