Pricing the Ocean: Valuing Ecosystem Services from Seaweed Farming

How do you put a price tag on nature?In this episode of Before the Tipping Point — where AI and Sustainability meet Climate Leadership, we explore the economics behind seaweed farming and ecosystem services with Ngoc Pham, Aquaculture and Marine Economist at Wageningen Social and Economic Research, Wageningen University & Research.Ngoc has worked on blue economy projects since 2012, and in this conversation, we unpack the complex challenge of assigning monetary value to ecosystem services provided by seaweed farming. The discussion examines:How ecosystem services from seaweed farming can be valuedThe economic and methodological challenges of pricing these servicesWhy seaweed farmers struggle to access markets such as carbon creditsWhether payments for ecosystem services could improve the profitability of seaweed farmingThis episode offers a grounded, economics-driven look at what it takes to move ecosystem services from theory into real-world markets — and what that could mean for the future of sustainable aquaculture.Support the show