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17
Building Blue Carbon Projects
An Introductory Guide
Finally, there is also the option for countries to develop national, or sub-national, markets for Blue
Carbon ecosystem services, without explicit reference to international regulatory or voluntary
markets and the associated standards and methodologies. Independent markets already exist in
countries such as Australia, Korea, Mexico, Costa Rica, California in the United States, Ache in
Indonesia, Acre in Brazil, and several Chinese provinces. In those countries and states, Blue Carbon
ecosystems may be included within the existing policies and mechanisms.
Under all of these scenarios, national or sub-national governments can also support efforts to
clarify current constraints or areas of significant uncertainty regarding the development of
ecosystem-based management and initiatives, in general, and Blue Carbon initiatives in particular.
Such regulatory or policy clarifications might include tenure (for land, carbon, and carbon trading
rights), taxation, and other issues. In a related strategy, governments can also offer a variety of
incentives to those seeking to promote such initiatives, particularly for the private sector. Such
incentives might include preferred access to (and improved terms) for finance, tax holidays or
reductions, and accelerated depreciation of investments.
Further information
on the status of Blue Carbon policy can be found in the following:
Key takeaways:
Policy settings will vary from project to project with different countries and regions having
differing policy capacities.
Policy development regarding Blue Carbon is still relatively recent, and promoting Blue Carbon
activities within Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions may be considered productive.
Mangroves need to be included in the existing national forest definitions and in other REDD+
implementation strategies as appropriate.
National and sub-national governments can deploy a number of policy and regulatory tools to
promote Blue Carbon and other ecosystem-based climate change mitigation strategies.
Coastal Blue Carbon and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Current Status and
Future Directions
(Murray
et al
., 2012)
Blue Carbon Policy Framework 2.0
(Herr
et al
., 2012)
Blue Carbon Policy Options Assessment
(Climate Focus, 2011)
