After 5 years of collaboration between the Aquatic Macrophyte Ecology Group (GAME) of the Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), the Junta de Andalucía, IUCN, and the ONG Hombre y Territorio the Life Blue Natura project ends with one of the most anticipated results: the establishment of two pilot projects for blue carbon compensation. These new projects are supported by the new Andalusian carbon standard for the certification of blue carbon credits, as well as the legal framework of the Andalusian Climate Change Law.
The work carried out by this project has revealed the carbon richness of the sediments in tidal marshes and seagrass meadows of the Bay of Cádiz, as well as in the Posidonia meadows of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park. Thanks to the definition of these projects and the Andalusian blue carbon standard, companies will be able to offset their carbon emissions in the voluntary carbon market through these projects based on the conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems in the European context for the first time.
This methodology and tools tested and developed in Andalusia are already pioneering bases to implement other blue carbon projects through the emission compensation markets within Europe.
Andalusian carbon standard for the certification of blue carbon credits
Last December, the Junta de Andalucía, through the Climate Change Service, published the carbon standard and compensation projects on the Andalusian Climate Change Portal, another of the successes and tools included in this Life project.
Available documentation includes:
- Andalusian carbon standard for the certification of blue carbon credits
- The absorption calculator
- The document to help the tool for calculating carbon dioxide uptake in marine phanerogam meadows and wetlands
- The Andalusian Catalog of Blue Carbon Absorption Projects
