Established in 2008, Blue Climate Solutions is a non-profit project of The Ocean Foundation, and is the world’s first organization with a sole focus on blue carbon.
Blue Carbon is carbon associated with the marine environment through coastal and ocean ecosystems
Blue Climate Solutions mission is the promotion and conservation of the world’s oceans, it’s ecosystems and biodiversity, as a proactive and viable action to reduce the impact of climate change. Our objective is to protect and enhance the natural carbon sinks provided by coastal and ocean ecosystems and organisms.
Our role:
- Raising awareness of the role of the coasts and the ocean in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and incorporating the value of oceanic carbon cycling into climate and ocean governance and related policies.
- Coordinating targeted science to address key knowledge gaps in oceanic biological carbon cycling to inform ocean and climate policy and management.
- Leveraging the value of blue carbon capture and storage to secure conservation of ocean biodiversity and ecosystems, inform sustainable development of the blue economy, and enable continued economic opportunities for local communities, including fisheries and tourism.
Current activities:
- Harnessing Oceanic Blue Carbon Project – To develop guidance on the incorporation of the value of whale carbon into policy and management.
- Improving Understanding of Whale Carbon Project – To improve understanding of the ecological function of whales and their role in the carbon cycle.
- Oceanic Blue Carbon Policy Landscape Project – To improve understanding of the policy landscape of oceanic blue carbon.
- Founding partner of the UN Environment Blue Forests Project, supporting the increased understanding and uptake of coastal and oceanic blue carbon solutions.
- Member of the High Seas Conservation Coalition.
Blue Climate Solutions Engagement:
Blue Climate Solutions formed the Blue Climate Coalition: over 100 conservation groups and environmental stakeholders, and over 150 scientists from 43 countries around the world. The Coalition has advanced policy options for blue carbon with the United States executive and legislative branches, US government agencies, and through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process.
Co-authored the report Pacific Island Whales in a Changing Climate, launched at the UN Ocean Conference, June 2017
Partnered on the Blue Carbon – Nationally Determined Contrbutions Inventory
(November 2016)
Authored Fish Poo and the Climate Change Challenge, article in The Marine Biologist magazine (April 2016)
Co-finance partnership with the Global Environment Facility Blue Forests Project, launched in January 2015
Co-authored the report Fish Carbon: Exploring Marine Vertebrate Services (November 2014)
Contributed to the report Building Blue Carbon Projects: An Introductory Guide (April 2014)
Please see Documents and Publications for policy briefs, Blue Climate Coalition letters and statements, and useful external Blue Carbon references.
Support Us
If you would like to support our mission, please see the Donations page, or contact us to discuss options.
The Ocean Foundation serves as our fiscal sponsor, providing 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.