In Yokohama, Japan, a group of around 100 volunteers recently planted eelgrass along the city’s coast, near Tokyo. This is part of a larger effort to help the ocean and to reach Japan’s goal of having no carbon emissions by 2050. Japan is one of the top five countries in the world for producing gases that harm the environment. But because Japan has a lot of coastline compared to its land, it can use plants in the ocean to soak up carbon dioxide from the air, which helps stop climate change.

This project in Yokohama is important because it is using a new strategy called “blue carbon,” which means using the ocean and coasts to hold carbon. Keita Furukawa, a scientist, says that plants in the ocean, like eelgrass, are very good at taking in carbon. Japan even shares this information with the United Nations to show what it is doing to help the environment. Right now, plants in the ocean only take care of a tiny part of Japan’s yearly emissions. But as Japan’s forests get older and cannot take in as much carbon, planting more eelgrass could make a big difference in helping the environment.