Protecting, restoring coastal ecosystems key to climate change mitigation - report
Clean Energy Wire
Protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems that serve as natural marine carbon sinks, such as mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and tidal marshes, can be a significant measure for countries around the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change, according to a report by the Öko-Institut and the Leibniz Center for Marine Tropical Research on behalf of the German Environment Agency (UBA). “Seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and salt marshes can absorb and store up to 216 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year worldwide,” the Öko-Institut stated. Over millennia, they have formed an enormous store in the marine sediment of up to 22 billion tonnes of “blue carbon”, i.e. carbon that can be absorbed and stored by marine organisms. These blue carbon ecosystems also contribute significantly to the preservation of biological diversity in the seas and on the coasts, help protect against storm surges and ensure sustenance and security of millions of people.
"The ecosystems on the coasts and in the oceans are often still given far too little attention," said Judith Reise of the Öko-Institut and one of the report’s authors. “Unfortunately, many countries do not yet include these important carbon sinks in their greenhouse gas balances.” Doing so allows monitoring of carbon flows in coastal ecosystems and makes human influence on them visible. “This also creates more incentives to protect these important ecosystems from harmful influences that in many cases lead to greenhouse gas emissions.”
Several international partnerships on blue carbon have emerged in recent years aimed at researching, restoring and enhancing coastal and marine ecosystems. Among them is the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, also known as the Helsinki Commission or HELCOM, which comprises Germany, Russia, the EU, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. HELCOM aims to protect the Baltic Sea from land, air and sea pollution, conserve habitats, protect biodiversity and ensure the sustainable use of marine resources.
