Maritime Affairs Program (MAP) Handbill Spotlight

Issue Background

First emerging as an acknowledged field of study as part of a 2009 United Nations Environment Programme report in recognition that the ocean plays a role as earth’s largest carbon sink, “blue carbon” has been recognized as a crucial, natural way to sequester carbon and conserve marine ecosystems in the long-term. ‘Blue carbon’ refers to the habitats, species, and processes that sequester carbon into deep sediments or deep waters in both coastal and open ocean ecosystems. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, coastal blue carbon ecosystems (which includes seagrasses, salt marshes, and mangroves) “store three-to-five times more carbon per unit area than tropical forests, and [sequester]carbon at a rate ten times greater than tropical forests”.

There is still debate as to what processes should constitute deep sea blue carbon, including its measurement, as sequestration does not occur in situ in open waters. However, the scientific community generally acknowledges that it is important not to limit blue carbon policy and management to coastal blue carbon alone, as deep-sea ecosystems do play an immense role in capturing carbon, though its full extent is not yet entirely understood. Without including blue carbon resources as part of a country’s carbon emissions stock, the nationally determined contributions of each signatory of the 2015 Paris Agreement will be inadequately measured. Thus, marine protected areas (MPA) have been discussed as necessary for the conservation of blue carbon resources in both coastal and deep-sea ecosystems. Numerous successful examples of MPAs within national borders garner some hope for increased implementation, yet outside national borders or in areas of disagreement, the situation is cloudier.

Recent Events

Fortunately, despite its relative nascency as an internationally recognized field of study, there has been significant multilateral cooperative efforts in addressing the need to better incorporate blue carbon as a necessary topic of discussion. 2019 marked the first year in which ocean issues were put at the front and center of climate action, which was marked by Chile hosting the first ‘blue’ Conference of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid, Spain. A delegation led by the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, France, and Costa Rica elevated the role that MPAs can play in climate change mitigation and outlined the need for blue carbon to be incorporated into countries’ nationally determined contributions. The result of these conversations led to the establishment of the International Partnership on MPAs, Biodiversity and Climate Change. During COP26 in Glasgow, the Partnership further raised the profile of MPAs by providing expertise and lessons learned from the respective member countries.

This new partnership has the potential to link numerous regions of the world together to develop best practices in conservation policy based on the best available science. Such collaborative efforts should be built out further so that Asia, Africa, and other regions can also participate and be involved. As a result of its efforts, in addition to other representative countries taking part in COP26, the Glasgow Climate Pact that was adopted under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change now recognizes ocean-based actions as essential to addressing climate change. It also requires that an annual dialogue be held every May or June from 2022 onward to report back to the COP each year. Yet, the road to effective MPAs outside of national borders is fraught with danger, particularly in regions of continued dispute.