Blue Carbon as a Nature-Based Mitigation Solution in Temperate Zones

Mine Cinar, Nathalie Hilmi (), Gisele Arruda, Laura Elsler, Alain Safa and Jeroen A. J. M. van de Water
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Nathalie Hilmi: Department of Environmental Economics, Centre Scientifique de Monaco, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco MC98000, Monaco
Gisele Arruda: Natural Resources, Global Commons and Climate Change Management, Circumpolar Studies, UARTIC, 96300 Rovaniemi, Finland
Laura Elsler: Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Jeroen A. J. M. van de Water: Department of Estuarine & Delta Systems, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Korringaweg 7, 4401 NT Yerseke, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-15

Abstract: Concern for the future requires local steward-led cooperation between natural and social scientists and decision-makers to develop informed and policy-relevant nature-based mitigation solutions, including blue carbon (BC), which can help secure the future. Salt marshes, kelp forests, and seagrass meadows (and to a lesser extent mangroves) are significant BC ecosystems in temperate areas. We discuss the concept of blue carbon stocks and the scientific approaches to building BC stocks considering the variability in local conditions and the co-benefits of blue carbon ecosystems to improve climate change mitigation and adaptation mechanisms. The study examines (1) methods to assess the potential of BC ecosystems and the impact of disturbances, while (2) building relevant policy based on socio-economic assessments of impacted communities. We highlight economic and social approaches to rebuilding BC using financial tools such as blue bonds, development plans, cost-benefit analyses, cross-ecosystem restoration projects, AI and blockchain, and economic accounts of coastal ecosystems, while emphasizing that cutting carbon emissions is more important than (re)building BC stocks.

Keywords: blue carbon; climate change; nature-based solutions; ocean sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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