BLUE Climate

The ocean plays a pivotal role in regulating our climate, having absorbed 90 per cent of excess heat produced by greenhouse gas emissions and around 25 per cent of anthropogenic carbon emissions. Yet the habitats and marine life that enable the ocean to perform these key functions are being severely depleted. In a world of rapid global heating and runaway climate change, the vital role of the ocean as a solution to climate change must be fully understood and utilised effectively. 

Blue Climate is a specialist unit within Blue Marine that is focused on proving the value of the ocean as a solution to climate change. The unit integrates with Blue Marine’s wider conservation and restoration work; delivering targeted evidence to inform political change at a local and global level. We use our projects to develop templates of best practice for communities and biodiversity. And we campaign to raise the profile of the ocean as a climate change solution at international events such as the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties.  

Increasingly we are also engaging with other crucial oceans and climate topics, such as climate-resilient Marine Protected Areas and the offshore energy transition. By working internationally on a breadth of climate issues we can influence policy-making to ensure the safe, sustainable use of our ocean.   

If we want to solve the climate and biodiversity crises, we need to recognise that they are interconnected, and the ocean is our crucial ally. In 2024, we launched a new policy brief ‘Blue Thread: Aligning National Climate and Biodiversity Strategies’ with the Ocean & Climate Platform (OCP), an alliance of more than 70 NGOs and research institutions. The brief encourages the building of a common, long-term strategy for greater integration between the UN Climate and Biodiversity Conventions at implementation level. The ocean has a key role to play in connecting the dots, weaving a ‘blue thread’ across national strategies. 

Blue Carbon Ecosystems 

Blue Carbon Ecosystems, mangroves, seagrass and saltmarshes, are vital for; the global carbon cycle, fisheries enhancement, coastal resilience and sustaining critical biodiversity. We seek the effective conservation and restoration of Blue Carbon Ecosystems through a combination of scientific evidence, economic instruments, policy frameworks and projects that demonstrate best practice. We are also supporting innovative science to further our understanding of the role that other habitats such as kelp and seabed sediment play in climate regulation. 

In 2023 we began integrating the protection and restoration of Blue Carbon Ecosystems into existing Blue Marine project locations in the Maldives, the Dutch Caribbean, Greece and Formentera. We have also established new relationships with local NGO partners to implement community-based ecological mangrove restoration projects in Indonesia and the Philippines.    

Blue carbon is already a viable and actionable climate solution. However, knowledge and methodological challenges remain, as well as finance and policy gaps that need to be addressed to realise the full potential of blue natural capital solutions. 

Meanwhile, north of Scotland in the Orkney Islands we are supporting research to map the flows of carbon in kelp forests. This will improve the understanding of kelp as a carbon storing ecosystem

The seascape is the ultimate sink for carbon emissions, and could be an immense ally in efforts to slow runaway climate change. The Convex Seascape Survey seeks to answer some of the crucial questions that remain on this topic.  

Market-Enabling in the UK   

In 2021, Blue Marine alongside WWF, The Wildlife Trust and RSPB founded the UK Blue Carbon Forum. Since its inception the forum has continued to grow, recently co-hosting an event with the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership and Scottish Blue Carbon Forum about how to address the scientific questions remaining around saltmarsh and seagrass in the UK.

In 2024, as well as visiting a series of international projects in which Blue Climate has been involved, we have also pushed forward the development of marine natural capital markets in the UK. For this we launched A Roadmap for Action, in partnership with the Crown Estate, Crown Estate Scotland, Finance Earth, Pollination and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. It presents an opportunity for the UK to set the world standard for excellence when it comes to establishing equitable, transparent, high-integrity and standardised markets for marine natural capital.