A Climate-Positive Event

The Blue Climate Initiative is committed to making the Summit a climate-positive, net-zero emissions event. Direct emissions reduction, carbon removal, and indirect emission avoidance are all vital forms of net-zero strategies (see the Oxford principles for net zero aligned carbon offsetting and Decoding ADEME’s opinion on carbon neutrality). We have incorporated all types of offsets into our program. We also believe that travel-related carbon offsets should support climate action in the destination community itself, wherever possible. While working closely with Summit service providers to minimize their footprint through sourcing from most sustainable available channels and means of transport, we offset the Summit’s carbon footprint by investing in both a carbon removal/sequestration project in the tropical IndoPacific and an emission reduction project in French Polynesia.

We estimate the footprint of the Summit, including participant travel, at roughly 900 tons of CO2. While participants are encouraged to offset their own travel (e.g., through airline carbon credit programs), and the Summit program itself will of course stimulate and accelerate substantial new climate action, we are also investing over $200,000 directly in projects that offset at least 1,800 tons of CO2 (i.e., at least twice the Summit’s carbon footprint).

The initiatives that we are putting into action include our carbon removal/sequestration project, a multiple-year investment in the development and restoration of two hectares of mangrove forest in Malaysian Borneo, which will also offer significant co-benefits for biodiversity and local livelihoods. Our emissions reduction program advances the decarbonization of Moorea (the Summit’s host island in French Polynesia) through the installation of rooftop solar panels at a local community center and research station. Through this investment, we also support educational, scientific, and cultural programs linked to island sustainability and climate resilience.

Carbon Removal/Sequestration: Nature-based Solution Project

Two hectares of mangrove forest will be restored and monitored in a nationally protected area of Malaysian Borneo by Tēnaka, a French social business that offers companies the opportunity to contribute to net-zero strategies by investing in nature-based solutions such as the restoration of ocean habitats.

Before and after of mangrove forest restoration by Tēnaka.

 

 5,000 seedlings will be planted; an average of 2,500 marine and terrestrial species will be preserved as the forest grows.

 It will take three years for the forest to sequester approximately 870 tons of CO₂, equivalent to the full carbon footprint of the Summit. Monitoring and reporting on the site will be extended for a period of at least 10 years however.

Emissions Reduction: Renewable Energy Project

We will install ~360 m2 of rooftop solar panels on Moorea, replacing electricity currently provided by the island’s diesel-fired power station. In addition to helping decarbonize Moorea - one of French Polynesia’s primary tourist destinations - the investment supports programs at the Atitia Center, operated by the Association Te Pu Atitia—a local community-based organization dedicated to documenting and preserving Polynesia’s biocultural heritage—and at the University of California Gump South Pacific Research Station, which carries out globally-significant ecological research on coral reefs.

Aerial view of Atitia Center where solar panels will be installed, in addition to the Gump Station.

 

 6,220 WP of rooftop solar will be installed in three arrays that will cover daytime power needs of the neighboring sites.

 884 tons of CO2 will be avoided over the first 10 years of the equipment’s usage.