Oceans & Climate MitigationBlue Carbon in NDCs

Blue CarbonClimate Change Mitigation

Mangroves Salt Marsh Seagrass

Aware of the role and importance in … marine and coastal ecosystems of sinks and reservoirs of GHGs

REDD negotiations started - Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation

Coastal carbon ecosystems discussed as sinks and sources / Blue Carbon

Technical and scientific aspects / IPCC Wetlands Supplement

NDCsand PA

Coastal “Blue” Carbon under the UNFCCC

Coastal and Ocean Ecosystems – many critical ecosystem

servicesFisheries

Coastal protection & erosion control

Coastal Water Quality

Livelihoods (tourism etc.)

Cultural value

Food

Biodiversity

Carbon sequestration and storage

• Corals are currently a carbon source, and marine fauna do not sequester carbon directly

but are simply a component of the carbon cycle.

• Kelp ecosystems take up carbon in the short term, but without a meaningful soil

component, they do not maintain long- term sinks.

• The carbon sequestered by phytoplankton in deep- ocean sediments is globally important,

due to the abundance of phytoplankton, but is inherently difficult and impractical to manage

given its pan- oceanic distribution. In addition, the only current management strategy to

increase phytoplankton productivity above the baseline involves artificially increasing

nutrients (iron, nitrogen, phosphorus) in large expanses of the ocean; however, strong

concerns have been expressed regarding the impacts of such geoengineering projects on

ocean ecosystems.

• Similarly, open- ocean ecosystems are predominantly outside national jurisdictional

boundaries, hindering inclusion of these marine ecosystems in climate mitigation- related

policies.

• Policy challenges include lack of clarity regarding who would (1) determine and implement

management strategies, (2) conduct assessments to support national GHG inventories, or

(3) receive financial gains (such as carbon credits) resulting from climate mitigation

activities.

Carbon sequestration capacity of corals, kelp, and marine fauna

suggests that they do not represent consequential, verifiable, long-

term carbon sinks with respect to the atmosphere.

Free to download:

thebluecarboninitiative.org/manual

滨海蓝碳

红树林、盐沼和海草床碳储量和碳排放因子评估方法

Globally accessible standards

and methods

2013 Supplement to the

2006 IPCC Guidelines

for National Greenhouse

Gas Inventories:

Wetlands

+ 2019

Refinement

US National Wetlands Inventory

Land Use Change Net Emission

MMtCO2 / yr

Wetland to Open Water 1.27-7.19

Wetland Drainage 0.70-1.92

Wetland Restoration 0.015-0.025

Emissions and removals of CO2 and

CH4 on intact and restoring

vegetated wetlands (all coastal

wetlands considered managed).

Drainage and excavation activities

Conversion of vegetated wetlands to

open water

Forestry activities on wetland soils

CH4 emissions from impounded

waters

Aquaculture

• integration into national greenhouse gas inventories• development of innovative approaches to protect BC

ecosystems• science and research• capacity building and knowledge transfer • mobilization of funding for BC management

• Focus on coastal ecosystems:

- Mangroves

- Tidal salt marshes

- Seagrasses

• High rates of carbon sequestration, act

as long- term carbon sinks, and are

contained within clear national

jurisdictions

• Large carbon storage in soil per unit

area

• Other ecosystem cobenefits

Coastal carbon / NDCs

Regional, national and local initiatives across the Pacific

• Pacific Blue Carbon Partnership (GIZ, SPREP)

• Blue Carbon Project (CI, DFAT)

• Regional Pacific NDC Hub / Partnership (GIZ, SPC, SPREP)

• Pacific Mangroves Ini. i.e MESCAL (SPREP, UNDP, IUCN, WFF)

• BIOPAMA (IUCN, SPREP)

• MACBIO (marine spatial planning) (GIZ, IUCN, SPREP)

• Marine Spatial Planning – (IUCN)

• International Partnership for Blue Carbon (Govt, NGO’s +)

• Eco-DRR and Mangroves workshops (IUCN)

• LMMA network

• Reef to Ridge (GEF,UNDP)

• Global Mangrove Alliance (BMZ, IUCN, WWF, TNC, WI, CI.+)

• RAMSAR (IUCN, WI)

Thank you

http://thebluecarboninitiative.org/