The CO2 Foundation often funds science communication efforts, and it’s not often that we find opportunities to resource implementation projects. Supporting the work of The Climate Foundation is an exciting on-the-ground (or rather, in-the-water) exception. After a pilot phase of marine permaculture trials in the Philippines, this innovative team is now working toward hectare-scale offshore seaweed cultivation.

Marine Permaculture (MP) regenerates healthy marine ecosystems through scalable offshore seaweed cultivation, combining nature-based carbon removal and emissions reduction while addressing biodiversity loss and food insecurity. Utilizing solar-powered, hurricane-resilient platforms, MP regenerates seaweed forests and enhances marine food webs while sequestering atmospheric CO2.

A key innovation of the approach is deep cycling: raising and lowering seaweed platforms diurnally. At night, platforms descend to depths of >100 meters, accessing nutrient-rich deepwater; during the day, they return to sunlight-rich zones near the surface, enabling photosynthesis. This nutrient supply allows seaweed to thrive even in warming or nutrient-depleted waters where growth would otherwise fail. Trials from 2020-2024 show that deep cycling increased seaweed growth 100–300% over controls. Energy-efficient and hurricane-resilient, MP platforms survive category 5 storms intact.

Currently tested in the Philippines, MP benefits communities most affected by climate change, creating opportunities for billions globally, especially those in extreme poverty, through job creation, food security, and equitable benefit distribution. The team actively engages women in the local communities including training and leadership opportunities; Indigenous knowledge is integrated into project design to ensure local traditions are respected and leveraged for success. MP demonstrates how engaging local populations in the design, deployment, and management of seaweed cultivation systems catalyzes grassroots climate resilience and sustainable development.

Below are some of the specific benefits of this work:

• Sequestering atmospheric CO2: Progress in this respect is measured in tons of CO2 sequestered per hectare through long-term storage in the deep ocean. One quarter of seaweed grown on platforms falls off, sinking 1000m a day to the abyssal sea floor where the dissolved carbon can remain for centuries up to 100,000 years as dissolved calcium bicarbonate. Deep-cycled seaweed platforms uniquely enhance CO2 removal, a key focus for both the CO2 Foundation and The Climate Foundation.
• Fostering sustainable livelihoods: MP engages local communities in the production of seaweed-derived products like food ingredients, feed supplements for livestock and aquaculture, biostimulants, and fertilizers. In the Philippines, smallholder seaweed farmers—many of whom are women—struggle with declining yields caused by marine heatwaves and diseases. Marine Permaculture (MP) offers transformative approaches through sustainable offshore seaweed cultivation, biodiversity restoration, and year-round economic opportunities.
• Ecological restoration: This project has built in assessment of ecological benefits via measurement of species biodiversity and abundance. An underwater glider equipped with multiple sensors is collecting real-time data on nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and platform impacts.
• Innovative economic models: Enabling fishers to transition from extractive to regenerative practices is a priority. The Climate Foundation is supporting lease-to-own models for seaweed platforms, creating a transportable biorefinery to produce seaweed-derived products, and developing local value chains. Ultimately, operations will be streamlined with automation to enhance efficiency and enable farmers to do more with what they have.
• Reducing chemical applications: Deploying seaweed biostimulants on land reduces nitrate fertilizer use and nitrous oxide emissions by 20% across diverse crops, including rice, fruits, vegetables, and staples.
  Measurement and validation: Research is ongoing, and the team collects carbon fixation and removal data to better understand contributions to global carbon reduction efforts. The dream is to create a gold standard for marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR).
• Fostering natural biogenic cloud condensation: Additional research is commencing to understand the role of algae in fostering healthy cloud condensation nuclei that can help to restore marine cloud layers and keep coastal regions cool.

The project has a sophisticated understanding of regulatory hurdles, the possibilities of community resistance, and environmental uncertainties, and implements strategies to address all of these challenges proactively: early engagement, inclusive planning, and strong environmental safeguards. Among its partners are leading research institutions such as Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Rutgers University, Princeton University, and National Taiwan University (NTU). This work has been featured in 2040, Drawdown, and Regeneration, and was recognized by the XPRIZE for Carbon Removal.

In one fell swoop, this exciting work addresses all three legs of the climate triad: helping bring emissions to zero, effect 2400GT of carbon removal, and offer local climate repair – not to mention hope for billions reliant on the ocean for survival across the world.