What lies beneath: the ocean’s hidden climate risk with Professor Callum Roberts

Europe talks a big game on marine protection but, beneath the surface, the picture is far more fragile. 

This week on Shaken Not Burned, Felicia speaks with Professor Callum Roberts, one of the world’s leading marine biologists and lead scientist on the Convex Seascape Survey. His research reveals a climate risk we almost never count: what happens to the carbon stored in our seabed when it’s torn up by trawling.

The ocean floor is one of the planet’s largest natural carbon stores, locking away vast reserves built up over millennia. But each time a trawl drags across the seabed, that carbon is disturbed – some is released back into the ocean, some into the atmosphere. The scale of this disruption is still uncertain, which is why Callum now leads the Convex Seascape Survey, a five-year research effort to map, measure, and understand these hidden climate dynamics.

In this conversation, Callum explains why marine protected areas in Europe aren’t enough, how seabed carbon loss could reshape our climate models, and what meaningful protection actually requires. 

We also explore the policy and finance implications: why seabed health matters for supply chains, food security, and long-term resilience – and why ocean action must sit at the heart of climate strategy, not the margins.

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