What is Blue Carbon?

Blue carbon refers to the carbon captured by the world's ocean and coastal ecosystems. The term "blue" refers to the watery nature of this storage (Lovelock dan Duarte 2019). Coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows are some of the most productive on Earth and provide essential ecosystem services such as coastal protection from storms and nursery grounds for fish.

They also sequester and store "blue" carbon from the atmosphere and oceans, making them an essential piece of the solution to global climate change. Blue carbon ecosystems have a small global footprint, but they can bury many times more carbon per acre than even a tropical rainforest. Protecting and restoring coastal habitats is a good way to reduce climate change, as when these systems are damaged, an enormous amount of carbon is emitted back into the atmosphere. The International Blue Carbon Initiative is a coordinated, global program focused on conserving and restoring coastal ecosystems for the climate, biodiversity, and human wellbeing (Macreadie et al. 2021).