Managing Large Carbon Sinks Innovations & Startups Report

Comprehensive Showcase of Global Managing Large Carbon Sinks Innovations & Startups

From CLIMAFIX, the leader in climate innovation intelligence

Managing Large Carbon Sinks Introduction:

About 38000 billion tons of CO₂ are stored in the oceans, and they sequester an additional 2 billion tons of atmospheric CO₂ annually. Permafrost contains over 1400 billion tons of CO₂. Grasslands capture about 3 billion tons of CO₂ per year. Wetlands store over 13 billion of CO₂ in the US alone.

In addition to the more apparent carbon sinks like forests, these represent very large natural carbon sinks. These sinks co-exist symbiotically with the rest of their ecosystem entities. For instance, cattle and grasslands form a synergistic partnership – while cattle consuming the grass could emit some of the carbon back into the atmosphere (through enteric fermentation and also from the composting or bio methanation of their waste), the cattle waste (urine and dung) also serve as valuable nutrients for the grasslands to grow.

While they capture and store CO₂, they are potential emitters too. For instance, natural wetlands already emit about 30% of all methane emissions globally. With global warming, experts warn that permafrost could thaw and emit massive amounts of carbon stored in them. Climate records show that as temperatures climb, oceans can turn from CO₂ sinks to CO₂ emission sources.

Managing these natural carbon sinks with care is critical to ensure that they continue to sequester equal or even higher amounts of CO₂ every year, and more importantly, to ensure that they do not emit the CO₂ stored in them back into the atmosphere. Decarbonization efforts should be more nuanced and should be aimed at maintaining a balance between CO₂ capture and emissions by these ecosystems.

The importance of these carbon sinks for a healthy global climate has given rise to organisations and associations. Prominent ones among them are the International Permafrost Association and Wetlands International.

For the 2020-2030 period, innovations in this domain will be in monitoring these sinks through the use of digital tools, deep ocean vehicles, LiDAR, etc., capacity building for key stakeholders to manage these ecosystems, and multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure preservation.

The Managing Large Carbon Sinks Innovations & Startups Report provides insights on the following: