8 June marks World Oceans Day and TreadRight Foundation Planet Ambassador, Céline Cousteau, is sharing a message of hope for turning the tide on climate change.
It’s World Ocean Day and The Travel Corporation (TTC) TreadRight Foundation is celebrating with a special message of hope from Ambassador Céline Cousteau, and an update on TreadRight’s innovative ocean-focused projects.
A leading environmentalist, acclaimed documentary filmmaker and adventurer, Céline reveals how ocean restoration can unlock new solutions to tackling climate change.
“To address the many threats facing our oceans, Cousteau says, ‘we must go to the root of the problem and pursue long-term solutions: prevention.
“Protecting and restoring our natural resources will provide us a means to mitigate humanity’s excessive carbon footprint and empower climate action,” she adds.
The projects
TTC says it recognises its role and responsibility in creating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through its trips and operations.
To support the transition to a low-carbon future and its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, TTC and TreadRight have invested in two nature-based carbon removal solutions, Project Vesta and GreenWave, chosen for the way they support TTC’s Climate Action Plan.
GreenWave is a regenerative ocean farming organisation studying how kelp can be added to soil to increase its natural carbon storage potential, while decreasing harmful nitrous oxide emissions on regenerative land farms.
Cousteau acknowledged that kelp has strong potential to reduce both the need for nitrogen additives (fertiliser) on agricultural crops and nitrous oxide emissions in soils and this process would have significant implications for climate benefit.
Project Vesta is exploring the natural power of the ocean as a carbon sink. The organisation is using olivine, a naturally abundant volcanic rock, to harness the natural power of the ocean to remove an estimated trillion tonnes of excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
By crushing up olivine and moving it to coastal areas, it can be broken down further by the natural weathering process of wave power, removing carbon from the air and permanently storing it into rock. Cousteau confirmed that the process naturally reduces ocean acidity.
“Each one of us has the power to make positive change,” says Cousteau.
“These projects show us that the wellbeing of humanity depends on the wellbeing of our planet, and we must do all we can to protect our natural resources,” she concludes.
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