Pidgeon, Emily

Wetlands have been the focus of conservation and restoration efforts for over a century, and governments, international actors (NGOs and academia) and local communities around the world are now increasingly engaging in wetland restoration or avoiding wetland degration activities for climate change mitigation. Yet despite the rapidly growing attention on wetland activities for climate mitigation, finding the appropriate funding sources to set up a wetland carbon project or develop a national wetland carbon program is often a challenge.

Development and implementation of blue carbon-based activities now requires strategic policy and incentive mechanisms to achieve coastal conservation, restoration and sustainable use, and provide disincentives to drain or damage coastal systems. A first effort to develop such a strategic program was set out in the first edition of the Blue Carbon Policy Framework. Based on additional information and current progress a revised Blue Carbon Policy Framework 2.0 has now been developed. It updates the previous version and adds a detailed coordinated program of policy objectives and activities.

Development and implementation of blue carbon-based activities now requires strategic policy and incentive mechanisms for coastal conservation, restoration and sustainable use, and and disincentives to drain or damage coastal systems. Currently no broad, strategic program exists to achieve this. To address this, a Blue Carbon Policy Framework has been developed, detailing a coordinated program of policy objectives and activities, needed for the integration of blue carbon into existing initiatives and to support the implementation of coastal management activities.