This weblog submit was authored by 2024 Sabin Middle Summer season Intern, Arpana Giritharan, with enter and supervision from Johanna Lovecchio, Director of Program Design for Local weather Motion and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Local weather College, and Romany Webb, Deputy Director of the Sabin Middle for Local weather Change Regulation.
‘Coastal blue carbon’ refers back to the carbon captured by dwelling coastal and marine organisms and saved in coastal ecosystems, similar to mangroves, seagrasses, and tidal or saltwater marshes. Scientific analysis signifies that blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) can sequester as much as 4 instances extra carbon per hectare and retailer it 30 to 50 instances quicker than terrestrial forests. In addition they present essential co-benefits, together with enhanced coastal resilience and improved livelihoods, making them vital for each local weather change mitigation and adaptation.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Local weather Change (IPCC) estimates that round 151 nations have at the very least one blue carbon ecosystem (BCE), with 71 nations possessing all three sorts. Nevertheless, solely 42 jurisdictions have acknowledged the significance of blue carbon as a local weather mitigation and adaptation technique within the Nationally Decided Contributions (NDCs) submitted underneath the Paris Settlement. Nations are anticipated to unveil updates to their NDCs by early 2025 and are urged to acknowledge the importance of BCEs in these updates.
Though in its early phases, carbon dioxide removing (CDR) strategies – i.e., strategies that take away and retailer carbon dioxide from the environment – have gained traction in recent times as a local weather change mitigation technique. The IPCC has emphasised that though CDR can not exchange substantial emissions reductions, its deployment is “unavoidable” to avert probably the most extreme penalties of local weather change.
We analyzed 141 events’ NDCs to determine whether or not blue carbon is framed as a mitigation or adaptation technique, in the event that they mentioned blue carbon in any respect. We have been unable to evaluation the NDCs submitted by 53 events as they weren’t printed in English. For every NDC we reviewed, we looked for the key phrases “blue carbon,” “carbon sink,” “wetland,” “mangrove,” “saltmarsh,” “seagrass”, in addition to broader phrases similar to “blue financial system” and “ocean”. Related phrases from NDCs, together with these phrases, have been extracted and analyzed. Primarily based on the evaluation, the NDCs discussing blue carbon have been grouped into three classes: (1) people who introduced blue carbon as a mitigation technique, (2) people who introduced blue carbon as an adaptation technique, and (3) people who mentioned blue carbon within the context of each mitigation and adaptation. The map beneath exhibits the outcomes.
Of the NDCs reviewed, forty mentioned blue carbon, with various levels of emphasis. Of these, 12 recognized these ecosystems as solely a mitigation technique, 8 recognized them underneath adaptation methods, and 22 recognized them as each mitigation and adaptation methods.
The extent of element and ambition relating to blue carbon varies throughout NDCs. Of the NDCs that debate blue carbon, the bulk acknowledge the potential of blue carbon for adaptation and mitigation. Some, such because the Seychelles’ NDC, embrace extra particular targets similar to to “defend at the very least 50% of its seagrass and mangrove ecosystems by 2025 and 100% by 2030, with exterior assist,” and to “embrace the greenhouse gasoline (GHG) sink of Seychelles’ blue carbon ecosystems within the Nationwide Greenhouse Gasoline Stock by 2025.”
NDCs don’t absolutely define how BCEs will probably be scaled up by means of funding. A number of nations point out the prospect of investing in coastal resilience, however don’t transcend this. Seychelles, is an exemplary case, because it specifies using modern financing mechanisms similar to blue carbon credit and bonds, and debt-for-nature swaps (p.20) in financing BCEs, and the blue financial system extra usually. Some NDCs focus on broader funding packages, similar to Somalia’s goal of $3 billion for ‘coastal, marine atmosphere and fisheries’ which embrace BCEs.
Whereas acknowledging blue carbon in NDCs is a step in the fitting route, there are nonetheless sure limitations associated to together with them in NDCs. Though the Paris Settlement (Article 4, Paragraph 2) legally requires events to submit NDCs and “pursue home mitigation measures with the goal of attaining the targets of such contributions”, the precise achievement of the NDC shouldn’t be legally binding or enforceable. Additional, mentions of voluntary carbon markets which might be a forthcoming driver of BCEs have been past the scope of our search. There are a number of challenges with this as a result of credibility of carbon credit, points with additionality, and regulatory uncertainty.
Moreover, some nations’ might have talked about blue carbon in different local weather coverage paperwork similar to Nationwide Adaptation Plans, or numerous ocean methods, with out mentioning them in NDCs. An instance of that is the Biden-Harris Administration’s 2023 Ocean Local weather Motion Plan (OCAP) which identifies conservation and restoration of BCEs as a software for addressing the local weather disaster. Australia is one other instance. Whereas Australia’s NDC doesn’t point out BCEs, they’ve adopted complete regional blue carbon methods (e.g. NSW Blue Carbon Technique 2022–2027 and Blue Carbon Technique for South Australia) and supplied funding for blue carbon restoration and conservation initiatives abroad by means of the Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund.
Laws, and enforcement by organizations, have performed an important function as a coverage lever to guard BCEs from numerous threats similar to aquaculture. For instance, Sri Lanka was the primary nation on the planet to legally defend its remaining mangrove forests in 2015. Environmental Basis Lanka (EFL) – a public curiosity legislation group – filed a Elementary Rights Petition (SCFR 150/2024) within the Sri Lankan Supreme Courtroom in June 2024 searching for due safety for the Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve, the nation’s largest marine protected space, which includes all three BCEs. The Supreme Courtroom granted the petition and ordered the then-Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation to reinstate protections for the realm that had beforehand been eliminated. This success is one among many which highlights the significance of leveraging authorized and coverage instruments to guard present BCEs.
Nations which categorized blue carbon as a mitigation measure in NDCs: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Guyana, Norway, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the USA of America.
Nations which categorized blue carbon as an adaptation measure in NDCs: Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, United Republic of Tanzania and Viet Nam.
Nations which categorized blue carbon as each mitigation and adaptation measures in NDCs: Bahamas, Belize, Chile, Fiji, Liberia, Maldives, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Myanmar, Nigeria, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, United Arab Emirates, the UK, and Vanuatu.
For an in depth evaluation of the 141 NDCs we reviewed, see this spreadsheet.
Arpana Giritharan
Arpana Giritharan is a authorized intern on the Sabin Middle for Local weather Change Regulation and a grasp’s pupil at Columbia Local weather College. This weblog discusses the work she performed as a departmental analysis assistant on the Local weather College.