De Beers Group celebrates World Creativity & Innovation Day 2022 with Kelp Blue investment

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The UN designated April 21 to be celebrated as the World Creativity and Innovation Day with the aim to educate people about the role of creativity and innovation in different aspects of human development.

Since there is no universal understanding of creativity, the concept is open to interpretation from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, social and sustainable development. This year's theme is Collaboration.

De Beers Group is pleased to announce a US$2 million investment in Kelp Blue, an innovative mariculture start-up focused on growing underwater kelp forests. The aim is to boost ocean health and safety, and permanently lock away carbon dioxide to support the development of kelp forests off the coast of Namibia. These underwater forests also have the added benefits of providing food and shelter for marine biodiversity.

While our primary focus for achieving carbon neutrality is through the reduction and replacement of fossil fuels across our business, the potential carbon credits generated from our investment in Kelp Blue will help offset the remaining hard to abate emissions from our operations.

 

"We are proactively seeking to identify potential long-term, sustainable and innovative nature-based solutions – particularly those that can deliver additional carbon capture benefits beyond our own business - rather than simply purchasing carbon credits on the market. While there is still work to be done to gain a deeper understanding of the scale of this opportunity, Kelp Blue is an innovative start-up with significant potential, and we are proud to invest in its future."

—Neil Ventura, Executive Vice-President, Strategy and Innovation at De Beers Group

 

While it’s still early days during this pilot phase, we’re pleased to be investing in such a pioneering project, as this collaboration and partnership will contribute to infrastructure development in and around Lüderitz, and generate a range of direct and indirect jobs in biotechnology, engineering, processing, support services and logistics in Namibia.

© DE BEERS GROUP

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