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Blue Carbon
Systems Thinking propounds the idea that in order for us to understand a problem it is important to understand its inter-relatedness, an understanding of how the system could be more than the sum of its parts and how its constituents interact with each other. This couldn’t be more true in the context of climate change. In his book – ‘There is no Planet B’, Mike Berners Lee brings home the point that there is but one earth. Extrapolating from the above, it is important for us to recognise that changes in one part of the planet can have implications elsewhere. Our climate, our environmental choices, and their implications are all interconnected. They are universal.
What is Blue Carbon and why is it an important Carbon Sink?
We all know that Carbon Cycle is the mechanism by which carbon is circulated in our environment from the earth to the atmosphere. To achieve a reduction in global warming it is important to preserve and increase carbon sinks that sequester carbon from the atmosphere and help towards mitigating climate change and global warming, and reduce sources of carbon contributing to an increase in carbon in the environment.
Around 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kms of the earth’s coastal areas. Coastal ecosystems besides supporting livelihood and preserving pristine flora and fauna are also important as they serve as the first frontier of protection against storm surges and climate induced sea level changes. The spill over effects of global warming could result in erosion of these vital ecosystems that not only protect our coastal areas but are an important resource of Blue Carbon.
Blue Carbon is the carbon stored in the world’s marine and coastal ecosystems. Although forms of carbon sinks range from terrestrial vegetation to ocean ecosystems, the carbon stored by the world’s blue carbon ecosystems hold a significant amount of carbon — a given area of mangrove forest, for example, can store up to 10 times as much carbon as the same area of land-based forest.
Blue Carbon- Facts
What is Blue Carbon and why is it an important Carbon Sink?
We all know that Carbon Cycle is the mechanism by which carbon is circulated in our environment from the earth to the atmosphere. To achieve a reduction in global warming it is important to preserve and increase carbon sinks that sequester carbon from the atmosphere and help towards mitigating climate change and global warming, and reduce sources of carbon contributing to an increase in carbon in the environment.
Around 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kms of the earth’s coastal areas. Coastal ecosystems besides supporting livelihood and preserving pristine flora and fauna are also important as they serve as the first frontier of protection against storm surges and climate induced sea level changes. The spill over effects of global warming could result in erosion of these vital ecosystems that not only protect our coastal areas but are an important resource of Blue Carbon.
Blue Carbon is the carbon stored in the world’s marine and coastal ecosystems. Although forms of carbon sinks range from terrestrial vegetation to ocean ecosystems, the carbon stored by the world’s blue carbon ecosystems hold a significant amount of carbon — a given area of mangrove forest, for example, can store up to 10 times as much carbon as the same area of land-based forest.
Blue Carbon- Facts
- 83% of global carbon cycle is circulated through the ocean
- Coastal habitats cover less than 2% of the total ocean area
- Coastal habitats account for approximately 50% of the total carbon sequestered in ocean sediments
Blue Carbon Ecosystem and Global Warming
Unsustainable waste practices and ocean acidification are some of the mechanisms that threaten the existence of these ecosystems.
Global initiatives such as The Paris Agreement on climate change strive to ‘’achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century.” What this essentially means is that to prevent global temperatures from surging 2 degree above pre-industrial levels, appropriate mechanisms should be in place that increase carbon sinks and reduce carbon sources especially those created by humans.
While the most direct approach to help preserve these ecosystems would be ensuring their conservation and preservation through programs such as the International Blue Carbon Initiative and relevant global climate governance mechanisms, by mitigating global warming itself through simple activities such as planting trees, we can help preserve these ecosystems. It thus becomes a case of a positive feedback loop. Plant more trees, help sequester carbon, help prevent sea level rise,
help preserve these ecosystems and help sequester significant amounts of carbon.
How can Become Carbon Negative help and what is our differential advantage?
Most of the jargon around climate change mitigation actions has been around carbon neutrality and complicated methods of offsetting emissions. For example, at the most recent 25th COP (Conference of Parties) Summit of the UNFCCC as part of the “Business Ambition for 1.5°C — Our Only Future” campaign, corporates pledged to reduce emissions based on Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
While many such mechanisms are in place that aim to calculate the amount carbon that would need to be offset, here at Become Carbon Negative, our mission is simple. We aim to plant trees to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of climate change including the removal of blue carbon ecosystems. Acknowledging the interconnectedness of the global climate change landscape we aim to go above and beyond carbon neutrality and towards a carbon negative environment by creating a mechanism that is simple, direct, and participative.
By helping plant trees and aiming for carbon negativity as opposed to carbon neutrality we can help offset such spill over effects of climate change in a simple, easy, and efficient manner. We aim to be proactive as opposed to reactive in our approach by streamlining our procedure to be actionable, and user-friendly. When you join us, you join a global movement, a movement that simplifies the process of dealing with this pan-global calamity of climate change. You help in the attainment of
UN's Sustainable Development Goals relating to life on land, life below water and climate action. Keeping the larger picture in mind we aim to do our bit by giving back to the environment through our tree planting mission and encouraging participation across the board ranging from individuals to corporates.
Unsustainable waste practices and ocean acidification are some of the mechanisms that threaten the existence of these ecosystems.
Global initiatives such as The Paris Agreement on climate change strive to ‘’achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century.” What this essentially means is that to prevent global temperatures from surging 2 degree above pre-industrial levels, appropriate mechanisms should be in place that increase carbon sinks and reduce carbon sources especially those created by humans.
While the most direct approach to help preserve these ecosystems would be ensuring their conservation and preservation through programs such as the International Blue Carbon Initiative and relevant global climate governance mechanisms, by mitigating global warming itself through simple activities such as planting trees, we can help preserve these ecosystems. It thus becomes a case of a positive feedback loop. Plant more trees, help sequester carbon, help prevent sea level rise,
help preserve these ecosystems and help sequester significant amounts of carbon.
How can Become Carbon Negative help and what is our differential advantage?
Most of the jargon around climate change mitigation actions has been around carbon neutrality and complicated methods of offsetting emissions. For example, at the most recent 25th COP (Conference of Parties) Summit of the UNFCCC as part of the “Business Ambition for 1.5°C — Our Only Future” campaign, corporates pledged to reduce emissions based on Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
While many such mechanisms are in place that aim to calculate the amount carbon that would need to be offset, here at Become Carbon Negative, our mission is simple. We aim to plant trees to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of climate change including the removal of blue carbon ecosystems. Acknowledging the interconnectedness of the global climate change landscape we aim to go above and beyond carbon neutrality and towards a carbon negative environment by creating a mechanism that is simple, direct, and participative.
By helping plant trees and aiming for carbon negativity as opposed to carbon neutrality we can help offset such spill over effects of climate change in a simple, easy, and efficient manner. We aim to be proactive as opposed to reactive in our approach by streamlining our procedure to be actionable, and user-friendly. When you join us, you join a global movement, a movement that simplifies the process of dealing with this pan-global calamity of climate change. You help in the attainment of
UN's Sustainable Development Goals relating to life on land, life below water and climate action. Keeping the larger picture in mind we aim to do our bit by giving back to the environment through our tree planting mission and encouraging participation across the board ranging from individuals to corporates.
