Webinar: Ocean-based Carbon Markets Australia and New Zealand
Monday 28th March, 4-5pm (AEDT)
Researchers, Investors, Project Developers and industry participants all play an important role to scale up ocean carbon project development that will bring new innovation to enable large scale emissions reduction, plus many co-benefits such as biodiversity and jobs.
Australia’s and New Zealand’s blue economy participants are clearly well-placed to take advantage of their access to the natural capital of the ocean in the immature but emerging global Ocean-based carbon markets.
Growing awareness of ocean-based and ocean-derived negative emissions technologies and associated potential project developments, could benefit blue economy stakeholders, coastal communities with jobs and skills plus other co-benefits. These will help address the direct physical impacts of climate change, while claiming the trillions of dollars of investment opportunities available now and reducing barriers to trade as lower emissions economies.
Presentation 1:
Key insights from the BE CRC report: Ocean-based Carbon Markets Australia and New Zealand
Presented by: Marni Oaten, Managing Director, OCT Emissions Solutions
The reports produced for this study are intended for a broad audience, and to help describe an evolving opportunity with a variety of opinions and levels of complexity. Its goal is the identification of active and potential participants/ stakeholders and their involvement in the space of blue and ocean carbon. The reports are intended to support stakeholders to navigate their near and longer-term decision making and participation opportunities.
Presentation 2:
A bird’s eye view of the global Carbon cycle – identifying opportunities for blue/ocean carbon
Presented by: Professor Dr Sebastian Leuzinger, Auckland University of Technology
Limiting the amount of carbon in our atmosphere is one of humanity’s paramount goals for the 21st century. To understand our opportunities to achieve this, we need to be clear about what pools and fluxes exist naturally, both terrestrial and oceanic, and where carbon sinks can most effectively be enhanced through our intervention. Oceanic opportunities are huge, but the methodologies and regulations are far less developed compared to terrestrial systems. Often, misconceptions around net fluxes and carbon residence times, and a lack of accounting tools to properly capture those, present the first road blocks. I will provide some background that is necessary to fully exploit blue carbon opportunities.
Presentation 3: Investment landscape for Ocean/Blue Carbon project development
Presented by: Alpa Bhattacharjee, Head of Corporate Sustainability at HSBC Bank Australia
Alpa Bhattacharjee will discuss the HSBC climate solutions partnership in Australia and global opportunity for blue carbon with reference to case studies and capital finance available for nature-based solutions.
Our key speakers will each present a short presentation of their findings followed by 15min Q&A.
Presenters
Name: Marni Oaten
Affiliation: Managing Director, OCT Emissions Solutions
Marni is the Managing Director of OCT Emissions Solutions, a technology incubation start-up and considers herself a Intrapreneur and Climate Change Leader.
As an experienced Sustainability executive, Marni brings an energetic and pragmatic approach to developing and delivering Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies to enable industry stakeholders to move forward on their decarbonisation programs. As a power electrical engineer with over 25 years of experience in business and engineering roles, she is drawn towards cross-sector collaborations to drive industry-defining solutions. Marni has a demonstrated history of working commercial and philanthropic partnerships.
Marni is the Carbon Markets Study Project/Theme Leader, Key Researcher and Manager.
Name: Professor Sebastian Leuzinger
Affiliation: Auckland University of Technology
Sebastian is a broadly interested plant ecologist working at the interface of experimental and modelling studies. He has a special interest in the global carbon cycle and questions of carbon sequestration. He is involved in a number of international efforts to synthesise global results from elevated CO2 experiments.
Name: Alpa Bhattacharjee
Affiliation: Head of Corporate Sustainability at HSBC Bank Australia
Alpa has been with HSBC since 2010 and started working in the blue economy space in 2015, which includes a focus on blue carbon. In addition to her role as Head of Sustainability for HSBC Australia, Alpa is working on unlocking the barriers to investment and bankability for nature-based solutions, through the HSBC Climate Solutions Partnership, a USD100m investment that aims to scale up the technologies and investments required to transition to a low-carbon economy.
Facilitator
Name: Prof Lindsey White
Affiliation: Seafood & Marine Products Deputy Program Leader, Blue Economy CRC
Professor Lindsey White completed his PhD at the University of Auckland in 2001. He was awarded a three-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and in 2004 took up a position as Senior Lecturer in the School of Applied Science at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). He was appointed Head of the School of Interprofessional Health Studies at AUT in 2010 and in 2014 gave this up to take up a position as Associate Dean – International and Enterprise in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences. In 2016 he took up the role of Associate Dean – Research and Enterprise.
Professor Lindsey White is currently on the Science Executive of the Blue Economy CRC and Deputy Lead of the Seafood and Marine Products Research Program. Professor White continues to teach, supervise and research within the School of Science at AUT.
Professor White’s main research interest has always been seaweeds. Much of his research has focused on seaweed utilisation, both by humans and by marine herbivores. He currently have several projects on the use of Undaria pinnatifida (an invasive seaweed) in New Zealand from both the wild harvest and aquaculture angles.
More recently he has moved into the fisheries space, and have several projects which are aiming to sustainably enhance the fisheries of both New Zealand surf clams and geoduc.
