Oceans absorb ~30% of global CO2 emissions - how can we make the most of this C sink potential, whilst supporting ecosystems & local people?

Follow this thread for take-homes from the session on oceans for #GHGmitigation, at the #RacetoZero Dialogues from @UNFCCC & @wef

Coastal ecosystems cover only 2% of the ocean, but account for 50% of C sequestered in sediments

We can increase this C sink by restoring #mangroves, #saltmarshes & #seagrass

Whilst also supporting the 3 billion people who depend on marine & coastal biodiv for their livelihoods

To restore coastal ecosystems at scale, we need to deliver finance to the people and projects who need it

Some hurdles are:
1) Lack of data on risk
2) Creating an enabling policy environment
3) Achieving a ROI within a timescale suitable for investors

- Chip Cunliffe ( @chipc27)

An important method for financing coastal habitat restoration is use of #bluecarbon credits

This has been successfully trialed with mangrove protection & restoration in Colombia, by @ConservationOrg in partnership with @Apple https://www.conservation.org/stories/critical-investment-in-blue-carbon

@BlueCarbon_BCI has created a manual for assessing C stocks & emissions factors in mangroves, saltmarshes & seagrass meadows

It provides standardized protocols for sampling methods, laboratory measurements, and analysis of blue carbon stocks and fluxes https://www.thebluecarboninitiative.org/manual 

In Zanzibar, women are learning to grow a higher value seaweed species, which needs to grow in deeper water

The income and resilience of local people to climate shocks has hence increased

Depending on what the seaweed is used for, it could be funded by C credits

- Flower Msuya

Insurance schemes can also finance marine #naturebasedsolutions

E.g. in Quintana Roo, Mexico, coastal property owners pay a fund which finances the repair of the local reef, and pays out insurance to pay for damages if wind speeds exceed a certain level https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/insuring-nature-to-ensure-a-resilient-future/

Take a look at Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance ( @ORRAAnews) who aim to drive $500 million of investment into NbS by 2030, and surface at least 15 novel private & blended finance products by 2025

https://www.oceanriskalliance.org/ 

Farming sessile marine organisms, such as kelp, scallops, oysters, clams and mussels, can be a very sustainable form of food production

@GreenWaveOrg aims to train 10,000 ocean farmers by 2030, helping vulnerable people first

https://www.greenwave.org/ 

Feeding Asparagopsis seaweed to ruminant livestock (cows, sheep & goats) has been shown to radically reduce the amount of methane they release

If the weed could be grown sustainably at a large scale it could greatly reduce livestock GHG emissions

- Jennifer Smith @Scripps_Ocean

We need to get ocean #naturebasedsolutions, including restoration & protection of coastal ecosystems, into national & intl. climate policy

Take a look at @BlueCarbon_BCI's guidance for getting blue carbon into NDCs: https://www.thebluecarboninitiative.org/policy-guidance