Beyond our programs and campaigns WHALEFALL is practicing sustainability & resilience within the organization

As a mission-driven organization to empower everyone to help save our environment, minimizing our environmental footprint and maximizing our positive impact on our oceans, ecosystems, and communities is at the heart of what we do. However, climate change is warming our oceans and altering their chemistry so dramatically that it is threatening the survival and biodiversity of our ecosystems, critical seafood supplies, fueling cyclones, and posing significant risks to the millions of people living along the coasts.

Here at WHALEFALL, we have launched our own moonshot: to restore our oceans to a time not so long ago when they were in ecosystem balance. In order to play our part in achieving this moonshot, while advancing next generation ocean leaders, WHALEFALL is committed to creating a pathway to a more sustainable and resilient future. This commitment extends beyond our awareness in action campaigns and student and community scientist programs. Our approach includes setting short- and long term goals to address the environmental, social, and economic impacts from our own business operations, and be a more sustainable and resilient organization. We aim to lead by example with our students, citizen scientists, members, and partners.

Goal 1. Become a Carbon Negative Organization by 2035

Our most material environmental issues are the sources of energy we use and the greenhouse gases(GHG) we emit when we travel globally and locally to advance our projects and expeditions. The levels of GHGs we emit as an organization are minimal and we are already taking actions to further minimize our emissions. However, are taking responsibility and action to further minimize the GHGs that we emit as an organization. We will mitigate our GHG emissions by using more virtual options to connect with our team, members, and partners and continuing to carpool to local projects.

To achieve our carbon negative goal by 2035, WHALEFALL is developing an in-house blue carbon program focused on the untapped deep-water carbon sequestration potential through kelp reforestation and other ocean sequestration opportunities. This blue carbon program will ultimately sequester more carbon than WHALEFALL as an organization emits, and can serve as certified offsets for other organizations with ambitious carbon reduction and sequestration goals.

WHALEFALL will establish and submit a science based target to the Science Based Target initiative(SBTi) for validation and monitor and publish our progress towards achieving this target.

Goal 2. Develop and Source Sustainable Products

To further reduce our impact on the oceans and encourage our team, students, members, and partners to purchase and recycle sustainable products, WHALEFALL is commitment to sourcing the most sustainable products for resale and use by students and members participating in our programs.

To further contribute to a more sustainable, circular economy, products sold through our organization, in addition to dive products purchased elsewhere by the public may be returned to one of our physical locations for redistribution to underserved students working domestically and internationally on conservation and restoration projects with a need for equipment, but not the economic means to purchase safe and reliable equipment.

WHALEFALL is exploring and developing prototype dive products made from exciting new technologies such as biopolymers from waste biogas or aluminum from a carbon-free smelting process.

Goal 3. Enhance our Adaptive Capacity and Organizational Resilience

WHALEFALL will identify, assess, and prioritize the various risks and opportunities that climate change, extreme weather events, and other natural and human-caused disasters present to our people, programs, operations, and Hub communities. We will enhance our adaptive capacity and organizational resilience to manage and minimize the risks that affect our people and programs, while empowering our members and Hub communities to optimize the opportunities of living more sustainable and resilient lifestyles.

To achieve this, we will work with our Hub communities and partners to raise awareness of the various environmental and climate-related risks and opportunities we face, identify preparedness and adaptation measures, and develop ecosystem restoration projects for students and citizen scientists that serve as natural storm barriers, promote biodiversity and ecosystem restoration, and sequester GHG emissions (e.g., coral reef restoration, mangrove and kelp reforestation).

Goal 4. Report Annually and Continually Improve

WHALEFALL will prepare and distribute an annual report detailing progress towards achieving the goals set forth in this integrated sustainability and resilience policy. This report will be published on our WHALEFALL website for public access. WHALEFALL will continually improve its sustainability, adaptive capacity, and resilience across all aspects of the organization.