Building Blue Carbon Projects - An Introductory Guide

Consistency with international efforts:

UNFCCC - Convention Article 4.1(d) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) states that all parties shall: o “Promote sustainable management, and promote and cooperate in the conservation and enhancement, as appropriate, of sinks and reservoirs of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, including biomass, forests and oceans as well as other terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems .”  (UNFCCC, 2013). UN REDD+ - The UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation programme (REDD) is a UNFCCC mechanism to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. "REDD+" goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (UN-REDD, 2013). Blue Carbon can support national efforts to develop national REDD+ strategies by providing inputs of mangrove carbon and forestry assessment database to feed into National REDD+ frameworks and  “national  and  regional REDD+  readiness plans and  activities”  (Ajonina et al ., in press). Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions - Following negotiations pursuant to the 2007 Bali Action Plan and as part of the agreed outcome of the 2012 UNFCCC meeting in Doha (COP 18), developing country Parties will take Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). NAMAs are voluntary measures for mitigating GHG emissions in the context of sustainable development, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, aimed at achieving reduced emissions (UNFCCC, 2013). The International Blue Carbon Policy Working Group’s  recommendations for Blue Carbon and the NAMA processes include the following (International Blue Carbon Initiative, 2012): o Develop coastal wetland NAMAs or include Blue Carbon ecosystems in broader NAMAs and prepare for implementation (including technical, policy and institutional aspects); o Provide cost estimate (incremental costs) for developing and implementing national blue carbon NAMA for countries with an obligation for self-financed NAMAs; and o Explore opportunities to include Blue Carbon as part of adaptation activities. Convention on Biological Diversity - Each Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have been called upon to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. In 2010, the Convention revised its Strategic Plan which included the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. These targets identify goals for the period of 2011 - 2020. Aichi targets that Blue Carbon projects may directly contribute to include the following: o Target 7, regarding sustainable management and conservation of biodiversity; o Target 11, regarding systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures; o Target 14, regarding commitment to the provision of ecosystems services; and o Target 15, regarding enhancing ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks and climate change mitigation.

Building Blue Carbon Projects An Introductory Guide

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