Episode 50: Mangroves, Drones, and Data

In a few week’s time the 30th UN Climate Change Conference will take place in Belém, Brazil. While the world is making progress on cutting the carbon emissions that cause climate change, there is much work still to be done. Even if the world were to meet the goals put in place ten years ago in the Paris Agreement, we would continue to face the impacts of climate change. We will also need to focus on adaptation. One adaptation that could both build resilience and absorb carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere is the development of mangrove forests. In this episode, first aired in February 2024, and focused on the outcomes of COP 28, Jon Baston-Pitt was joined by two guests who have been using cutting edge technology to plant new mangroves. Jane Glavan is the co-founder of Distant Imagery. The company combines cutting edge technologies with locally available techniques and materials, to develop drones, balloons and kites that can be used to bring us closer to Net Zero. In Abu Dhabi, their drones are reforesting mangrove swamps, propelling thousands of seedlings into the ground, in every eight minute drone flight. This is a long-term project. Mangroves can take decades to reach maturity. Distant Imagery needed more access to data to track, refine, and share their approach. That has been Fugro’s focus. David Millar shared the importance of the UN Ocean Decade Corporate Data Group, which we first looked at in a February 2023 shortcast. The group is working to make available ocean data from some of the world’s most important private-sector collectors, and share it with potential users, such as Distant Imagery. Host Jon Baston-Pitt Guests Jane Glavan, Co-Founder, Distant Imagery David Millar, Government Accounts Director, Americas, Fugro