The IPCC’s 2021 Sixth Assessment Report is code red for humanity and underscores the ocean’s continuous decline. That’s why for UNESCO marine World Heritage it is all hands on deck to help sites adapt and we are proud to announce the first Chief Resilience Officer in Belize.
Check our latest Editorial in Science on why blue carbon can’t wait. Fanny Douvere Coordinator, UNESCO World Heritage Marine Programme
‘When the United Nations released its World Ocean Assessment in 2015, it was clear that the oceans were seriously degraded, with stressors on these environments projected to increase. The 2021 Assessment, released in April, shows that they have further declined, bringing us ever closer to losing the structure, function, and benefits of Earth’s marine systems. One way forward might be to focus on “blue carbon” ecosystems and the incentives they offer through carbon credits linked to decreasing carbon emissions.
Blue carbon ecosystems include seagrass meadows, tidal marshes, and mangroves, all of which are among Earth’s most efficient absorbers and long-term storers of carbon. This capacity for carbon storage also makes them sources of CO2 emissions when they are degraded or destroyed.
As the United Nations Environment Programme states in its April 2021 report Making Peace with Nature, “Ecosystem restoration can simultaneously mitigate climate change, slow and reverse biodiversity decline and increase the benefits that people get from nature.” Restoring blue carbon ecosystems could remove about 0.5% of current global emissions, with co-benefits for local ecosystems and livelihoods. These include improved water quality; increased marine and terrestrial biodiversity; preservation of livelihoods, cultural practices, and values of local and traditional communities; and the protection of shorelines and their resilience in the face of climate change. That’s quite a return on investment….
As the world aims for carbon neutrality in the decades ahead, we can take actions today to help slow climate change. The return on investing in blue carbon ecosystems is clear, meaningful, and immediate. We can’t afford to wait.
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