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The International Partnership for Blue Carbon is pleased to share this collection of blue carbon-themed side events at this year’s COP25 in Madrid – some of which will feature IPBC members and supporters. Events and individual presentations are expected to address a diverse range of topics and interests, including blue carbon in national greenhouse gas inventories and NDCs, the relationship between blue carbon and oceans, blue carbon as a nature-based solution, and blue carbon finance. If you are interested in attending any of the events below or would like to share details of your event, please do not hesitate to contact us. See you in Spain!

Monday 2 Dec     1830—2000 Room 6	Nature-Based Solutions: Integrating Coastal Ecosystems in 2020 NDCs: This event will explore nature-based solutions, including coastal ecosystems, in 2020 NDCs. This event will include high-level representatives from Seychelles, Belize, Costa Rica. Official UNFCCC event organised by The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts and Seychelles
Tuesday 3 Dec   1800 – 1930 WWF Pavilion	Leveraging Opportunities for Mangrove Conservation and Restoration to Increase Ambition in Nationally Determined Contributions:  The conservation and restoration of mangrove ecosystems presents a critical opportunity for meeting climate mitigation and adaptation goals. Organised by GMA, IUCN, CI; TNC; WWF, Wetlands International
Monday 9 Dec    1130 – 1300 Room 1	Climate-proofing our Oceans and Coasts through Nature-based Solutions: The potential of coastal and marine NbS to support global mitigation and adaptation efforts is underutilised. New science and successful NbS projects will be presented and discussed. Official UNFCCC event organised by IUCN and Ramsar Secretariat
Monday 9 Dec  1530-1630 Korea Pavilion	Implication of  blue carbon as a climate change response option: Research on mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrasses will significantly enhance the awareness and conservation efforts of the global community.  Members of the International Partnership for Blue Carbon, including Korea, Indonesia and Australia, will share updates on recent activities, including workshops on incorporating blue carbon into inventories.
Monday 9 Dec 1830 -2000EIB/Benelux Pavilion	Climate finance for coastal resilience – what is next for Blue Natural Capital? This event will feature investors, including governments, multilateral development banks and private investors, discussing the landscape and needs for fast-tracking investments into coastal resilience projects, building on nature-based solutions. Organized by IUCN, Luxembourg and CI
Tuesday 10 Dec  1020 – 1150 Indonesia Pavilion	Developing Commitments to explore the prospect of integrating  Ocean and Coastal Wetlands Issue into Green House Gas Emission Reduction: Indonesia and others are progressing the inclusion of coastal wetlands in inventories – a key step to understanding these under-threat ecosystems critical for carbon, resilience and livelihoods. This event will include speakers from Indonesia, Australia, and Brazil and Chile, some of the largest holders of blue carbon ecosystems in the world.
Tuesday 10 Dec   1830-2000 Room 1	Integrating Coastal Blue Carbon in NDCs: Highlighting practical actions underway, and launching new guidelines for countries considering including these ecosystems in NDCs and GHG inventories. This event will include speakers from Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Fiji, PNG, and the Blue Carbon Initiative.  Official UNFCCC event organised by Australia and Conservation International

The Partnership has just published a new Policy Assessment Activity available for download on the Tools and Resources page here.

Drawing on the National Blue Carbon Policy Assessment Framework and Tool by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (2016, Herr.D et al) this new activity presents a short, desktop or workshop style template which anybody can undertake to conduct a broad, but insightful assessment of policy conditions supporting blue carbon action.

Test your knowledge using the tool and let us know what you think.

Read the Summary Report here:

More than 60 participants met in Suva, Fiji to attend events from 18-21 September held by the International Partnership for Blue Carbon with co-hosts the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat – Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner.

There was a strong Pacific representation from Fiji, Kiribati, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu. Many other countries and organisations participated including Japan, Korea, Philippines, Sierra Leone, as well as Conservation International and the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.

A key theme of both events was the value of coastal ecosystems to the Pacific region and the importance of improving the availability of data. There was also a continued discussion around access to finance to support blue carbon efforts.

Continue reading “Pacific Workshop and Third Annual IPBC Meeting, Suva September 2018”

See also new publication: Wetlands exchange – lessons learned

A lack of data for coastal wetlands and the potential for improving mangrove coverage were among the challenges and opportunities identified at a recent technical exchange ‘Incorporating Coastal Wetlands into Inventories’. The Partnership, with hosts the University of Queensland, held the event on 12-13 July 2018.

Government representatives from Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and the United States joined scientists, non-government organisations to share their experiences and recent science at the event.

 

A key component of the workshop was the presentation and discussion of case studies by Australia, Indonesia, the United States and the UAE.

Australia, the US and UAE have all used recent guidance from the IPCC, the Wetlands Supplement, to report on the ecosystems. Indonesia holds large areas of coastal ecosystems and currently reports on mangroves as part of their forest sector. Indonesia has also begun considering using the Wetlands Supplement.

This workshop aimed to 1) discover impediments to adopting the new guidance within the Wetlands Supplement; 2) document the process of including coastal wetlands within national greenhouse gas reporting in those countries which have made progress to adopting the Wetlands Supplement in order to better understand how the Wetlands Supplement can be used, and 3) develop solutions and share knowledge to facilitate enhanced adoption of the Wetlands Supplement.

Delegates left the exchange with an increased understanding of the guidance and confidence to explore next steps for including blue carbon in their inventories.

The Partnership has published lessons learned from the workshop in a short report. These lessons will also be discussed at the Partnership’s upcoming meeting on 19-21 September in Suva, Fiji.

The draft agenda for our upcoming Pacific Workshop (18-19 September) and Annual IPBC Meeting (19-21 September) is now available here.

 

 

Australia is pleased to announce the inclusion of seagrass in its National Inventory Report 2016 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, released April 2018 using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2013 Supplement to the 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands (the Wetlands Supplement).

Continue reading “Australia includes seagrass in National Greenhouse Gas Inventory”

Australian and Korean government officials met recently in Canberra, Australia to share knowledge about incorporating coastal ecosystems in national greenhouse gas inventories.

The exchange was hosted by the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Energy on 16 April 2018. It provided in-depth sessions on Australia’s policy and technical approach for reporting emissions and removals from mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses.

Australia is progressively implementing the 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands (the ‘Wetlands Supplement’), and Korea is getting ready to undertake a similar process.

Continue reading “Korean officials visit Australia for blue carbon exchange”