WMU Research - Unveiling the Trillion-Dollar Impact of the Biological Carbon Pump
The World Maritime University (WMU) led a new study revealing that the biological carbon pump (BCP) sequesters approximately 2.8 billion tons of carbon annually—equivalent to 10 billion tons of CO₂—locking it away for at least 50 years. In addition to WMU, the international team of scientists includes researchers from IRD in France, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and Blue Green Future in the United States. Results of the findings are published in a new article, "Global distribution, quantification and valuation of the biological carbon pump," in Nature Climate Change.
For comparison, global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel were 36.6 billion tons in 2023 according to the Global Carbon Budget. The researchers estimate that the carbon storage provided by this ecosystem service is worth $545 billion per year in international waters and $383 billion per year within national Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), with the total value projected to exceed $2.2 trillion by 2030.
The BCP can be likened to a bustling underwater metropolis, a city where marine organisms such as phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish work in harmony to draw CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it in the ocean. Phytoplankton not only absorb CO₂, but also transform it into essential food for other marine life, which ultimately sinks to the depth of the ocean. This natural process, known as the biological carbon pump, is critical for regulating Earth’s climate by locking carbon away in the ocean, and slowing its return to the atmosphere where it would exacerbate global warming.
Despite its vital role in mitigating climate change, the BCP remains largely unprotected from human activities such as industrial fishing, pollution, and deep-sea mining. The study also highlights that many Large Ocean Island States, such as Micronesia and Kiribati, possess significant ocean carbon within their EEZs and could play a key role in safeguarding this essential climate-regulating service for the global commons.
“Accounting of ecosystem services ecological, climate, and economic benefits are useful for managing ecosystems and for informing governments on the ecological and socio-economic importance of their natural resources. Damaging nature has a cost for society and its protection requires funding and holistic approaches,” says lead author and WMU Senior Researcher, Fabio Berzaghi. “In this work we also highlighted the importance of carbon sequestration time when quantifying and valuing natural climate solutions. Sequestration time should be clearly stated and scientifically-estimated to provide more transparency and confidence in investments in carbon sequestration projects”.
Senior author, WMU Professor Mary Wisz said, “Life in the ocean plays an essential role in processing and storing carbon that would otherwise mix back into the atmosphere and trap heat. If it weren’t for life in the ocean, our atmospheric carbon levels would be around 50% higher than they are today. But carbon is not absorbed and stored evenly throughout the ocean. In some places it can get stored in the water column or in sediments for centuries. In other places it could pop back up nearby or somewhere else within a few years or less, depending on the motion of the ocean. Our study did something novel by showing where the carbon stays in the ocean at least for 50 years. We picked 50 years because it is convenient for management decisions that consider near term climate action.”
Professor Wisz also noted there are things that nations can do to protect these important natural processes. “Nations can protect the biological carbon pump within their territories with marine protected areas, marine spatial planning and environmental impact assessments. Nations can also support biological carbon pump protection within international waters by ratifying the newly agreed Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty, which recognizes the importance of protecting biogeochemical cycles, such as the BCP and the carbon it stores”.
The authors call for stronger conservation policies, enhanced financial incentives for lower income countries, and increased international cooperation to protect this critical carbon sink. This can help nations to fulfill their obligations under the new Global Biodiversity Framework which calls for ecosystem-based approaches to effectively protect 30% of the World’s oceans and coasts in marine protected areas, and to manage the rest for biodiversity.
These findings are poised to inform global climate finance discussions and influence policy debates at upcoming COP climate and biodiversity summits, underscoring the indispensable role of the oceans in climate mitigation.
The work was funded by the OceanICU Horizon Europe project grant agreement no. 101083922 (OceanICU), which aims to understand biological carbon cycling in the ocean. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
For more information and to access the Nature Climate Change article, visit: https://go.nature.com/3FMm4vN
