U.S. States Play Major Role Boosting, Expanding ‘Blue Carbon’

To help managers and other stakeholders learn more about mapping, measuring, and managing seagrass habitats for their blue carbon contributions, The Pew Charitable Trusts hosted a webinar on March 28, 2023, titled “Harnessing the Power of Seagrasses in the Fight Against Climate Change,” featuring state, national, and international experts. Environmental officials from the U.S. state of North Carolina discussed their efforts to develop the state’s first blue carbon inventory that includes high-salinity seagrasses, which are the most extensive variety of these plants on the U.S. East Coast. Then, a policy expert who has worked extensively in the Republic of Seychelles provided insights from the perspective of small island states on leveraging seagrass to meet nationally determined contributions, which are countries’ commitments to cut emissions and adapt to climate change under the United Nations’ Paris Agreement.

Coastal wetlands, including salt marshes, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows, are among the most productive—and threatened—ecosystems on the planet.

In what’s becoming a distressingly familiar scenario, the scientific evidence that a natural ecosystem can help fight climate change is building just as that same habitat faces increasing threats from a warming planet. In this case, it’s “blue carbon” habitats—such as salt marsh and seagrass beds—which can capture and store significant amounts of carbon but are also imperiled by rising sea levels.