Ever noticed seagrass? No, probably not. Though it grows prolifically everywhere but Antarctica, it isn't the sort of ocean creature that usually draws attention to itself. But look a little closer. Look beneath the blades of green. There, in its roots and rhizomes, the seagrass is furiously sequestering carbon. In fact, it can pack the stuff away as much as 10 times quicker than a tropical rainforest. You might wonder: How can humans protect this humble plant and encourage it to go on cleaning up our messes? What can we do for the seagrass? And you might be surprised to hear that the answer, according to an economist at the International Monetary Fund, is to put a price tag on it. Take all the seagrass meadows on Earth—and all the other CO2 sinks, for that matter—and assess their worth in carbon credits. Then sell the credits to polluters. Make ecosystems investable. Make the market pay to help nature thrive. In his most recent WIRED feature, staff writer Gregory Barber visits the Bahamas, where a group of scientists, financial experts, and government officials are working to monetize the seagrass meadows. The project, which could be worth tens of billions of dollars over the next 30 years, would be a boon for the island nation, which is under threat from worsening natural disasters brought on by climate change. But as Barber traces the idea from the warm waters of the Bahama Banks to the halls of a UN climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh and back again, he finds that the math may not add up. —Anthony Lydgate | Features Editor |
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