This article was written on behalf of the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) by Dr Rahanna Juman, Deputy Director of Research and Wetlands Ecologist.
The Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) is collaborating with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to pilot a Blue Carbon Credit System in Trinidad and Tobago.
The project aims to design a high-quality blue carbon credit scheme to improve digital mapping, monitoring, reporting, and verification of ecosystem services.
The project also seeks to promote management, and ownership, of natural capital to create practical opportunities for livelihood enhancements and revenue generation.
Understanding “Blue Carbon” Ecosystems
Marine ecosystems – particularly tidal marshes, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests – absorb (sequester) and store carbon within biomass and soils.
Commonly referred to as “blue carbon” ecosystems because of their relevance to the global carbon cycle, these marine ecosystems provide climate mitigation benefits and a range of other ecosystem services that support coastal livelihoods and adaptation to climate change.
But studies have shown that mangroves absorb and store carbon at higher rates when compared to other ecosystems.
As such, mangrove forests are amongst the most carbon-rich ecosystems in the tropics and are one of the most efficient long-term natural carbon stores.
Given their high sequestration rates, experts consider mangroves to play a major role in regulating the global carbon flux.
On average, mangroves have a mean whole-ecosystem carbon stock around 2.5 to five times higher than the mean ecosystem carbon stock found in temperate, boreal, and upland tropical forests.
Blue Carbon Ecosystems in Trinidad and Tobago
Initial estimates show that mangrove forests in Trinidad and Tobago store at least 1,118,630.99 tonnes of carbon.
When mangrove forest carbon in Tobago was compared to terrestrial forest carbon, data showed that the mangrove forests stored 61 per cent more carbon per hectare.
In Trinidad, mangrove forests stored 44 per cent more carbon per hectare than terrestrial forests.
But despite their critical role, there is an increasing loss of mangrove forest systems because of ill-advised development and activities.
These include pollution, coastal development, extractive activities, unsustainable aquaculture, agricultural practices, and intense weather events such as storms.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimated there has been a decline of 1.04 million hectares of mangroves between 1990 and 2020.
In Trinidad, mangrove ecosystems declined from 7,345.54 hectares in 2007 to 6,941.68 in 2020.
Investing in Blue Carbon to Protect Mangroves
The loss of mangroves directly results in a decline of carbon sequestration and a potential increase in carbon emissions as their carbon stocks are released when degraded.
Deforestation, forest degradation, and land-use change account for the second largest anthropogenic source of carbon emissions (approximately eight to 20 per cent).
When factored in, mangrove loss is an important contributor to these emissions as mangroves are carbon-rich ecosystems.
Over the past several years, mangrove conservation has been promoted with increased vigour in global climate negotiations due to its potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
Given the significant storage potential of blue carbon, the blue carbon credit market (as a subset of the carbon credit market) is experiencing growing momentum.
Supported by Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, the carbon credit market has been identified as a key mechanism to create an economic incentive for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively.
There is recognition that these carbon markets can bridge the shortfall for countries in financing climate action goals listed in their National Determined Contributions (NDC).
For example, Trinidad and Tobago’s NDC (2018) includes provisions to pursue the development of a feasible carbon trading scheme aimed at reducing emissions in the industrial sector.
In fact, 83 per cent of NDCs intend to use these carbon finance mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
Trinidad and Tobago’s Blue Carbon Credit Scheme
Internationally, the carbon market has challenges like double counting greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and greenwashing.
As a subset of the carbon market, the blue carbon market faces similar challenges.
With growing corporate demand, there is a need to verify these credits and ensure they are of high quality, which places significant emphasis on the livelihoods supported by these ecosystems.
Coupled with the need for high-quality credits, there is a need for a robust Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system to ensure environmental integrity under these market mechanisms.
The IMA’s collaborative project with the IDB aims to simulate a high-quality blue carbon credit scheme for Trinidad and Tobago.
It is envisioned that this blue carbon market ecosystem will include participation by public sector entities, communities, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, investors and both local and international private sector.
The scheme will develop a digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification system.
Platforms will be made available to register the carbon credits generated from rehabilitation projects and facilitate blue carbon knowledge sharing events in both Trinidad and Tobago.
The IMA has is conducting ongoing research to assess carbon capture and storage in mangroves, seagrass biomass and soils.
The research is particularly looking to see if these ecosystems can serve as an offset against carbon dioxide emissions from industry which can create an opportunity to explore developing a high-quality blue carbon credits program.
The development of a scheme will support Trinidad and Tobago in meeting its NDC targets, developing its Blue Economy, and conserving its blue carbon ecosystems.
For more information on the IMA’s Blue Carbon Project, you can:
Visit www.ima.gov.tt
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Connect with the IMA on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/imagovtt
