Active Ecosystem Management

Environmental stewardship represents a shift in climate action philosophy from prevention to active management. This approach involves humans taking deliberate control of natural systems to maintain and improve them.

Core concept of environmental stewardship

• Rooted in Christian notion of stewardship - looking after lands and seas as a duty
• Moves beyond just "avoiding worst case scenarios" or stopping carbon emissions
• Involves actively controlling and managing the planet's systems
• Requires taking responsibility for environmental outcomes

Key components of the stewardship approach

• Active intervention in natural systems

  • Making it rain when needed (e.g., Augustus the rainmaker)
  • Restoring ecosystems like seagrasses
  • Drawing down carbon through deliberate actions
  • Managing fish stocks through direct intervention

• Balancing economic growth with environmental management

  • Not shutting down the economy or stopping emissions completely
  • Developing compensatory mechanisms that work alongside economic activity
  • Creating tools that allow continued growth while managing environmental impacts

• Geoengineering as an underexplored space

  • Requires better science and technology development
  • Needs appropriate governance frameworks
  • Particularly important for managing shared resources like oceans

Practical applications in ocean management

• Ecosystem restoration (e.g., seagrass planting)

  • Critical for carbon capture (seagrass captures carbon 35x faster than rainforests)
  • Provides habitats for marine life (functions as "baby cribs" for ocean species)
  • Prevents ecosystem collapse

• Technology-enabled environmental management

  • Autonomous vehicles for data collection (e.g., Saildrone)
  • Robotics for restoration work
  • Enables scaling of environmental interventions

• Governance and compliance drivers

  • Government regulations requiring restoration of damaged ecosystems
  • Compliance-driven restoration projects
  • Voluntary restoration initiatives

Economic dimensions

• Ocean economy divided into three categories:
  • Biosphere management (fisheries, ecosystem restoration, environmental mapping)
  • Prosperity-oriented activities (energy, infrastructure, shipping, logistics)
  • Security (defense, border security, critical infrastructure protection)
  • Supports approximately 1 billion people's livelihoods globally