Prominent aquanaut Fabien Cousteau urges caution in putting a price on marine ecosystems, arguing that too many actors in the blue carbon economy are focused on short-term gain and are out of sync with the way nature works. He called for blue carbon standards and slammed plans to mine the ocean floor as "reckless" without more research.
The discovery that polymetallic nodules generate "dark" oxygen has frustrated mining companies and given hope to environmentalists pushing for a deep-sea mining moratorium until more is known about its impacts.