The Blue Carbon and Nationally Determined Contributions: Guidelines on Enhanced Action: Second Edition provides a guide on how countries may include blue carbon in their Nationally Determined Contributions. This resource has been updated from the initial 2020 publication with additional case studies and recommendations incorporated from the 2020 NDC update cycle, looking forward towards the 2025 NDC update cycle and beyond.
Blue carbon ecosystems – mangroves, seagrasses and tidal marshes - can contribute to countries’ commitments to achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Some 151 countries around the world contain at least one coastal blue carbon ecosystem, and 71 countries contain all three, making blue carbon a broadly applicable approach for addressing climate change.
The guidelines support countries seeking to promote and preserve the climate benefits of blue carbon ecosystems by providing technical guidance on the multiple avenues for including these ecosystems within updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Climate Agreement. Given the multiple justifications for including coastal blue carbon in NDCs and the varying levels of relevant national capacity, this guidance describes a range of options. The document recommends a “tiered approach”, similar to that employed by IPCC guidance, to demonstrate how a variety of motivations and starting points represent viable pathways for the inclusion of coastal blue carbon ecosystems in NDCs.