The term “blue carbon” refers to the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems. The so-called blue carbon ecosystems – mangroves, tidal and salt marshes, and seagrasses – are highly productive coastal ecosystems that are particularly important for their capacity to store carbon within the plants and in the sediments below. Scientific assessments show that they can sequester two to four times more carbon than terrestrial forests and are thereby considered a key component of nature-based solutions to climate change.

Corporate author: Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
Language: English
Year of publication: 2021
Type of document: Programme and Meeting Document

In an effort to help increase international ambition towards the protection of the global coastal blue carbon ecosystems, the IOC has recently joined the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment as Coordinator of the International Partnership for Blue Carbon (IPBC).

In absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), the ocean plays a crucial role in regulating the climate, a role yet to be fully understood. However, the ocean's ability to contribute to climate regulation may decline and even be reversed in the future. The ocean that is now the blue lung of our planet, could end up contributing to global warming.

Discover the first report focusing on blue carbon assets across the UNESCO Marine World Heritage sites, revealing their outsized role as custodians of globally relevant blue carbon resources, including the largest areas of seagrass and mangroves in the ocean.