Carbon Management

In the global efforts to reach the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals, the crucial role of nature-based solutions to deliver carbon dioxide removals (CDR) has been increasingly acknowledged in recent years. While terrestrial ecosystem-based CDR applications have played a major role in academic and political discussions, research on marine biomass-based CDR as a means to tackle greenhouse gas mitigation, often labelled Blue Carbon, is only beginning to shape. The term Blue Carbon broadly summarizes oceanic and coastal carbon sinks and covers a diverse set of habitats and species, ranging from mangrove and kelp forests to saltmarshes, and from unicellular algae to macrofauna. Blue Carbon has yet to find its place in most of the world’s carbon management strategies, but the ocean’s huge potential as a carbon sink is beyond doubt. Research on integrating Blue Carbon into global greenhouse gas mitigation action is therefore gathering momentum.

There are significant challenges to the widespread adoption of Blue Carbon as a means to actively combat climate change and mitigate climate change impacts on marine ecosystems. These include aspects from very different disciplines, ranging from basic natural scientific research questions on marine carbon fluxes to complex legal questions on international use rights and protection of the high seas. In addition, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) as well as accounting of Blue Carbon is extremely challenging both from a technical and an administrative perspective. Further, activities promoting blue carbon creation and burial may come with environmental and societal risks, including ecosystem change and economic costs. To make the best use of marine carbon sinks, these challenges will need to be tackled.

Our Article Collection therefore aims to attract high quality papers which contribute to solving the many challenges related to managing Blue Carbon as a method to effectively mitigate climate change. We welcome original research, case studies, opinion pieces or reviews at national, regional or global scales. The potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of marine carbon sinks
• Economics of various blue carbon options (mitigation costs, potential revenues)
• Design of policy instruments to incentivize Blue Carbon (carbon markets, allocation of climate finance, etc.)
• Legal and regulatory aspects in coastal waters and the high seas
• Accounting and reporting in national and international frameworks
• Political governance approaches towards Blue Carbon development
• Taking stock of existing and potential sinks
• Carbon cycles/flows and their link to carbon management (data and knowledge gaps)

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review. Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript. Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection title from the drop-down menu in the submission system.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is November 8th, 2024.

Please contact Pam Hohl at [email protected] for any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article