Scientists to Carbon Markets: Don’t Monetize the Whales

Whales, scientists have discovered, are climate warriors, absorbing huge amounts of carbon dioxide in their gargantuan bodies while pooping in such great quantities as to stimulate the growth of other CO2-consuming organisms in the ocean. That has sparked interest from the IMF and others in creating whale carbon credits or other financial mechanisms that could finance the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. In a new paper, however, the scientists behind that carbon research deliver a message: Don’t monetize the whales.

“Recent attempts to monetize whales have garnered attention by valuing an ‘average’ whale at $2 million for carbon-capture and other services,” the scientists wrote in the peer-reviewed study published Thursday in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. “As the authors of several foundational papers cited in these reports, we feel the scientific support for this valuation is lacking.”