To save the ocean, Web3 needs more scientists

The document discusses the emergence of Web3 tools, such as NFTs and DAOs, to fund ocean conservation and science. It warns that these initiatives currently lack sufficient scientific oversight and scholarly review, risking the repetition of past conservation failures like colonialism and the promotion of poor-quality carbon offsets. The author calls for scientists to act as advisors and critics, for more research on the practical application of Web3 to ecosystem management, and for universities to integrate critical thinking about digital technologies into their curricula to ensure conservation claims are verified and unintended consequences are mitigated.

• Web3 tools, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), are being used to raise funds for ocean conservation and science, with at least nine initiatives proposing to use NFTs to incentivize conservation or tokenize conservation actions.
• Climate-focused Web3 projects have faced criticism and failure, including accusations of promoting poorly designed carbon offsets and the withdrawal of fundraising NFTs by WWF UK due to carbon emission concerns.
• Current Web3 applications for ocean conservation suffer from a lack of scientific representation and rely on a limited number of incomplete peer-reviewed papers regarding natural asset values.
• To prevent the repetition of systemic failures such as 'parachute science' and colonialism, the author recommends that scientists serve as advisors and critics, conduct more research on Web3's application to ecosystem management, and that universities develop curricula for critical thinking on digital technologies in conservation.

APA

Brett, L. P. A. (2022). To save the ocean, Web3 needs more scientists. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/save-the-ocean-web3/

Chicago

Brett, Linwood Pendleton, Annie. To save the ocean, Web3 needs more scientists. World Economic Forum, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/save-the-ocean-web3/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Brett |first1=Linwood Pendleton, Annie |title=To save the ocean, Web3 needs more scientists |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=29 June 2022 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/save-the-ocean-web3/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{brett2022save, author = {Brett, Linwood Pendleton, Annie}, title = {{To save the ocean, Web3 needs more scientists}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/save-the-ocean-web3/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }