The Sequestration Potential and Carbon Markets

By avoiding further losses or restoring losses there is significant potential to generate revenue through carbon credit markets Both South Australia and Queensland recognise the mitigation potential of blue carbon, with Queensland investing in proof of concept as part of its Land Restoration Fund, and South Australia developing a Blue Carbon strategy.

Western Australia is well placed with both the expertise and territory to develop a blue-carbon industry. Exciting work is being done out of the UWA Oceans Institute, with a small team collecting and resettling seagrass with potential to restore coastal habitats and sequester drawdown significant amounts of carbon.

Western Australia’s coastline extends for over 10,000 km with globally significant Blue Carbon ecosystems covering over three million hectares. It’s estimated these WA ecosystems collectively store 412 million tonnes of CO2 and sequester about 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

The Proposal

1. Develop a WA Blue Carbon Strategy identifying demonstration projects and supporting WA’s 2050 net-zero emissions target.
2. Partner with industry and the research sector to establish a WA Blue Carbon Research Institute.
3. Map WA’s Blue Carbon ecosystem and mitigation opportunities.
4. Provide funding for ‘right-way’ science projects partnered with Indigenous communities and leverage this research into long-term Blue Carbon projects that employ Indigenous people through Aboriginal Ranger programs and enterprises.
5. Dedicate a proportion of existing funding for Aboriginal Ranger and other natural resource management programs to coastal and sea country projects that include management and enhancement of blue carbon values.
6. Work with the Australian government to develop a Blue Carbon offset standard under the national Climate Solutions Fund, enabling carbon markets and other robust finance instruments to support Blue Carbon protection and restoration.
7. Investigate and employ effective mechanisms for financing blue carbon projects, including issuing green (or blue) bonds, payments for ecosystem services (PES) and public-private partnerships.
8. Increase funding for marine and coastal habitat restoration and conservation. Scaling up the stewardship of mangrove and seagrass habitats into commercial-scale enterprises has the potential to unlock private investment and create further employment in these areas.
9. Expand Western Australia’s marine protected area (MPA) estate to provide protection and management for our most valuable blue carbon sinks.
10. Review management plans for activities that have the potential to impact blue carbon stocks, including recreational and commercial fisheries, management plans for existing MPA’s, coastal planning policies, and catchment management plans to ensure blue carbon values are recognised and protected.
11. Ensure Environmental Impact Assessment processes and planning decisions consider the impacts on blue carbon for all marine or coastal development proposals.
12. Request the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to develop a state-wide Blue Carbon Environmental Protection Policy (EPP) under the Environmental Protection Act.

Current barriers

The wide range of potential economic value reflects a need for further research and a lack of approved methodologies for blue carbon. This uncertainty makes private investment in this blue carbon market risky. Lowering that risk by developing methods and supporting research will unlock private investment and provide jobs. The Australian Government is currently assessing the feasibility of blue carbon project methods in partnership with other state and territory governments, research providers and industry groups through a national Blue Carbon Roadmap.

Professor Gary Kendrick, Head of UWA Oceans Institute believes there could be huge abatement by protecting and restoring the mangroves in Exmouth Gulf and strong abatement potentials by seagrass restoration in Cockburn Sound and Shark Bay Marine Park. Such blue carbon projects in WA will be vitally dependant on mapping the extent of our vegetated coastal ecosystems, including what has been lost, the cause of decline, and to what extent areas can be restored.

The role of marine conservation and protected areas

Blue carbon values are associated with healthy marine ecosystems and the health and viability of seagrass, mangroves and other blue carbon systems relies on a healthy ecosystem. Changing the ecological balance of these systems can have profound impacts on blue carbon storage and sequestration potential. This can occur through:

• Direct clearing or loss of seagrass or mangrove habitat;
• Impacts on water quality as a result of dredging, runoff, spills and contamination, or coastal development;
• Changes to species composition resulting from commercial or recreational fishing which can lead to changes to grazing pressure and loss of ecological connectivity;
• Introduction of marine pests and diseases

Climate change impacts can exacerbate the above pressures and cause catastrophic loss of blue carbon through direct temperature impacts. Vast areas of seagrass and mangrove ecosystems have been affected already and maintaining the resilience of these systems by managing other pressures is essential.

The establishment of marine protected areas, as well as improved fisheries management, coastal planning, environmental impact assessment, and management of land-based activities that impact water quality, are all important tools in supporting the protection and resilience of existing blue carbon stocks. These tools will be essential to ensure the success of efforts to restore or enhance blue carbon.