Pacific Trade Invest China hosted a side event in the margins of the Expo on the Solomon Islands Seaweed Carbon Sink Development Pilot Project, an initiative led by our office in partnership with the Zhangzhou Municipal Bureau of Ocean and Fisheries.
The Pacific Ocean is our planet’s largest carbon sink, storing 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere and 20 times more than terrestrial ecosystems. It absorbs approximately one third of global annual carbon dioxide emissions. This marine carbon sequestration, or ‘blue carbon’, relies on ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass beds and saltmarsh, and plays a vital role in maintaining earth’s carbon balance.
The shellfish and macroalgae aquaculture carbon sequestration project is a groundbreaking initiative. The annual carbon sink capacity of China’s three major coastal blue carbon ecosystems is 1.26 to 3.07 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to Dr Yan Jinpei from the Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources. China is the world’s largest marine aquaculture nation, with shellfish and macroalgae production comprising about 85 per cent of its total aquaculture output. Macroalgae absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and store carbon in the ocean. It’s estimated that by 2030, marine aquaculture in China will remove around 2.3 million tonnes of carbon from water bodies annually, rising to more than four million tonnes by 2050.
Dr Yang Xiaomei from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says that mariculture is an important production activity and sea-use type in coastal zones. Mariculture is the cultivation of marine organisms in the ocean or in controlled marine environments and plays a significant role in food supply and economic output. Expanding global seaweed aquaculture helps address the challenges of global food security, biodiversity loss, and climate change, and can also protect the marine ecological environment.
Dr Yang and her team analysed over four million satellite images and developed a smart algorithm that combines time, location and geographical data. With this technology, they created the first high-resolution global map of large-scale aquaculture ponds in 2022. By 2024, they had also mapped cage- and raft-based mariculture systems, creating a digital map of global mariculture carbon sinks.
Unlike traditional statistical data, this technology allows for real-time monitoring of aquaculture areas, better yield estimates and predictions of future potential. It provides vital technical support for seaweed-industry planning in island nations such as the Solomon Islands.
China is exploring market-oriented pathways for marine carbon sinks, with carbon trading emerging as a potential economic model. The blue carbon development project has five main parts: identifying blue carbon resources; developing methodology; monitoring and tracking carbon storage; verifying results; and trading blue carbon credits.
The project is now at the critical stage of seaweed carbon-sink accounting and verification. By developing seaweed carbon sinks into tradeable assets, the revenue generated can be reinvested into seaweed aquaculture. This incentivises farmers to expand cultivation areas, boosting their incomes while contributing to efforts to mitigate climate change.
Mona Mato, PTI China Trade Commissioner, emphasised the significance of these cooperation projects. “Our goal is to create opportunities for the economic prosperity, sustainability and livelihoods of our Pacific people in line with the vision of our Pacific Island leaders. Our office launched this initiative to explore carbon market opportunities as a way to combat climate change and boost economic and investment growth,” he said.
Jane Ma, CFA® Charter holder and Head of Investments of PTI China, believes that the income generated from seaweed carbon asset trading will benefit smallholding seaweed growers in Pacific Island nations, with the pilot project serving as a replicable model for the global blue carbon economy. “By combining technological innovation, policy support and community participation, we can create a win-win situation for both the environment and the economy,” she said.
For more information, contact Jane Ma, Head of Investments, Pacific Trade Invest China: jane.ma@pacifictradeinvest.org.cn.
