Carbon removal using 'blue carbon' habitats may be 'uncertain and unreliable' uniofeastanglia
In their analysis, researchers from the University of East Anglia , the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and the OACIS initiative of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation challenge the widely held view that restoring areas such as mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass can remove large amounts of carbon dioxide through the restoration of coastal vegetation.
Increasingly businesses and states have pledged to offset their emissions by restoring these ecosystems through carbon credits, assuming reliable knowledge on how much COHowever, Dr. Williamson and co-author Prof. Jean-Pierre Gattuso, of CNRS and the OACIS initiative of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, say the policy problem is more subtle.
"If we use these ecosystems for carbon offsets in a major way, expecting that they would remove up to, say, 100 gigatons of carbon dioxide over the period 2025-2100, but find they only remove 10 or maybe just one gigaton of CO, then climate tipping points could be crossed, with really serious consequences," said Dr. Williamson.
"If, however, such ecosystems are restored to protect biodiversity, and we find that they also remove several gigatons of CO"Restoration should therefore be in addition to—not as a substitute for—near-total emission reductions. Where coastal blue ecosystems restoration projects are carried out primarily for carbon removal, they need to include comprehensive long-term monitoring to verify that the intended climate benefits are being achieved.
Prof. Gattuso said,"Many important issues relating to the measurement of carbon fluxes and storage have yet to be resolved, affecting certification and resulting in potential over-crediting.
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