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

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.