What are the problems in the protection and development of blue carbon in China, and how to further promote it?

Vigorously developing blue carbon and promoting the protection of coastal ecosystems will greatly improve the carbon sink capacity of ecosystems, which is an important technical path to achieve the national "double carbon" strategic goal. In recent years, the research on the development of blue carbon protection at home and abroad has continued to increase, and Hainan and other places have actively carried out practical exploration and accumulated certain experience. The research team focuses on the blue carbon model in the realization path of "increasing sinks", based on the current situation of blue carbon research and development at home and abroad, focuses on the problems faced by China's blue carbon protection and development, and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions based on the practical experience of the Hainan plan.

Hainan practice of blue carbon conservation and development

The "Implementation Plan of the National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone (Hainan)" proposes to "carry out pilot projects for carbon sinks in marine ecosystems". The 14th Five-Year Plan for Ecological and Environmental Protection of Hainan Province and the 14th Five-Year Plan for Marine Ecological and Environmental Protection of Hainan Province have put forward clear requirements for the protection and utilization of blue carbon. In February 2022, Hainan Province took the lead in building the Hainan International Blue Carbon Research Center with high standards, built a scientific research and innovation exchange platform, and carried out research on blue carbon accounting and monitoring technology, sink enhancement schemes, investment and financing mechanisms, etc.

In 2022, the "Hainan Provincial Marine Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration Pilot Work Plan" was officially promulgated to comprehensively promote the pilot work of marine ecosystem carbon sequestration in Hainan Province.

In terms of technical support, Hainan Province has researched and released China's first registered mangrove carbon sequestration project methodology, "Hainan Mangrove Afforestation/Reforestation Carbon Sequestration Project Methodology" (HN2023001-V01); comprehensively carried out carbon sink surveys such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and macroalgae, promoted carbon storage investigation and assessment, and served to tap the blue carbon potential of Hainan Province; carried out research on the ecological restoration of coastal wetlands such as coral reefs and white lipped oysters, and carried out innovative pilot projects on ecological compensation mechanisms such as wetlands and rivers.

In May 2022, Hainan completed the value realization of the province's first blue carbon ecological product, achieving a substantial breakthrough in the value transformation of blue carbon resources. Hainan has taken the initiative to build a blue carbon market trading platform, established the Hainan International Carbon Emission Trading Center, carried out carbon sink pilot demonstrations in Haikou, Danzhou, Sanya, Wanning and other places, explored the research on the measurement methodology of typical bivalve shellfish carbon sinks in Hainan, established the Hainan International Blue Carbon Research Center to create an open and international research platform, promoted the carbon inclusive system, carried out a survey on the current situation of blue carbon in Haikou, and promoted the construction of a blue carbon resource management platform and community participation.

Problems faced by China's blue carbon protection and development

In recent years, with Hainan as a typical representative, China has made positive progress in promoting the development of blue carbon, but there are still some problems.

First, the system and mechanism for the development of blue carbon protection need to be improved. First of all, the development of mechanisms and institutions for the protection of blue carbon is not yet systematic. At present, the blue carbon protection policies are scattered in various development plans, and it is urgent to change from the existing blue carbon policies and development protection mechanisms with basic investigation, protection and restoration and carbon trading as the main body, to comprehensive policies covering climate change response in the marine sector, coastal wetland protection and restoration, ecological seawall construction, bird and marine biodiversity conservation, coastal marine pollution prevention and control, rural revitalization, marine ranch construction, carbon neutrality disruptive technology and green finance. A comprehensive coordination mechanism for the development and protection of blue carbon needs to be established among governments, institutions, communities and individuals.

Second, the construction of blue carbon-related rule of law is still in its infancy. There are no direct legal provisions for the protection and development of blue carbon in the existing legal system. The property rights of blue carbon resources are unclear, the rights boundary between blue carbon trading entities is not clear, and the rights of resource management institutions participating in the development of blue carbon projects to independently dispose of carbon sink income are restricted. The requirements for the protection of coastal blue carbon ecosystems are not clear, and there are no measures to protect and destroy coastal blue carbon ecosystems, resulting in the degradation, area reduction or direct loss of mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass beds in coastal cities in recent years, and the degradation of coastal wetland ecosystems is serious.

Second, there are still bottlenecks in the blue carbon sink monitoring and accounting system. The basic theory of carbon sequestration is weak, and the base of marine carbon sequestration capacity is unclear. A series of greenhouse gas guidelines compiled by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are important technical methods for countries around the world to calculate greenhouse gas emissions and emission reduction compliance.

There is no standard monitoring and evaluation method, and there is a lack of scientific monitoring and accounting technology. China has not yet established a unified monitoring and evaluation system for blue carbon resources, coastal ecosystems are susceptible to climate change and other factors, basic data on the carbon sequestration effect of marine organisms are difficult to obtain, and scientific monitoring methods need to be established. There is still a gap in the international research on the evaluation standards, certification and accreditation of blue carbon accounting, and the benign interactive feedback mechanism between blue carbon protectors and beneficiaries is not perfect.

Third, the coastal blue carbon ecological restoration technology is not yet mature. The practical experience of coastal blue carbon ecological restoration project is insufficient. In order to protect and restore coastal blue carbon resources, the ecological compensation mechanism of projects such as wetland restoration and vegetation reconstruction is not perfect. At present, the quantitative research on the blue carbon effect of coastal wetlands is carried out on existing wetlands, and there is no real example of coastal blue carbon sink research on engineering-scale wetlands.

The social awareness of coastal blue carbon development and protection needs to be improved urgently. The realization of the "dual carbon" goal needs to gather the green and low-carbon forces of the whole people, and at present, the main body of coastal blue carbon development and protection is still the government and scientific research institutions, the public is not strong in active participation, and the endogenous power of blue carbon development and protection is insufficient, so it is urgent to mobilize the society to pay extensive attention, take positive actions, and coordinate all parties.

Countermeasures and suggestions

From the perspective of the practice of blue carbon in Hainan, in order to promote the protection and development of blue carbon in China, the following work needs to be done.

The first is to promote the top-level design of the mechanism and system, and consolidate the basic guarantee for the whole process. Promote the formulation of blue carbon protection and development plans. Systematically sort out the requirements of existing blue carbon protection policies, formulate national action plans to achieve the "dual carbon goals" in the marine sector at the national strategy and policy level, scientifically and rationally plan short-term, medium- and long-term measures and expected goals for the protection and development of blue carbon, increase protection and incentive policies for important marine ecosystems, and gradually promote the inclusion of blue carbon conservation and development in ecological and environmental protection plans, so as to provide Chinese solutions for responding to global climate change. Synchronous embedding of multi-party coordination mechanisms. Government departments have strengthened publicity, supervision and law enforcement, and strengthened management through measures such as administrative regulation of pollution and destruction of blue carbon ecosystems, supervision of blue carbon trading markets, elimination of process equipment products that pollute blue carbon ecosystems, and coordination of blue carbon ecological supervision and marine ecological supervision;

Establish a legal system for the protection and development of blue carbon. Gradually establish an administrative legal system for the protection and development of blue carbon, which is based on the Marine Environmental Protection Law, the Environmental Protection Law, the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law and other laws, and supplemented by other relevant laws, regulations, rules and international treaties. It provides a legal basis for the whole process from the establishment and improvement of the blue carbon regulatory mechanism, the strengthening of the protection and development of the blue carbon incentive mechanism, as well as the encouragement of advanced production technology, the comprehensive ecological compensation mechanism, the participation of blue carbon in carbon market transactions, and the publicity and education of blue carbon protection.

The second is to speed up the standardization of accounting and monitoring technology, and strengthen technical support in an all-round way. Accelerate basic theoretical research and clarify the base of marine carbon sink capacity. Strengthen the methodological research of carbon sinks, clarify the scope of marine carbon sinks, continue to deepen the theoretical research of microbial carbon sinks, fishery carbon sinks and coral reef carbon sinks, and vigorously promote relevant methodological research in combination with the actual situation of local resources. Establish a normalized working mechanism for the investigation of blue carbon resources and carbon sequestration capacity, use digital technologies such as satellite remote sensing, and coordinate the investigation of blue carbon storage, carbon sink speed and sink increase potential, find out the base of blue carbon resources and the potential for increasing sinks, and establish a database of blue carbon resources.

Accelerate the development of key technologies and promote the introduction of monitoring and evaluation standards. Distinguish the characteristics of marine resources and environment in different coastal cities in China, based on a large number of sample survey data, carry out technical difficulties such as key parameter screening, and study and promote the introduction of technical specifications for the monitoring and evaluation of carbon storage and carbon sink capacity. Strengthen the application of information-based big data methods, and gradually build a blue carbon resource investigation and dynamic monitoring system. Rationally divide management responsibilities, rely on monitoring, investigation and evaluation networks and data centers, strengthen overall coordination among various national departments, clarify coordination mechanisms at the national level, and promote the construction of a marine carbon sink accounting and monitoring standard system. At the same time, it actively participates in international cooperation such as the formulation of international rules and standards, and studies and promotes the inclusion of China's superior carbon sink resources in the climate change governance system.

The third is to strengthen relevant ecological restoration research and develop the potential of carbon sinks in all aspects. Promote the pilot demonstration of coastal blue carbon ecological restoration projects. Through the implementation of pilot measures such as promoting the restoration of coastal wetlands, "returning ponds to red", restoring natural coastlines, reducing encirclement, sustainable marine aquaculture, and land-sea integration, we will strengthen the protection of mangroves, seaweed beds and other ecosystems, expand the area of coastal blue carbon ecosystems, and improve the quality of coastal ecological environment and blue carbon potential.

buildgatherA research platform for the superior resources and capabilities of all parties. Promote the experience of marine blue carbon centers, set up professional research teams on coastal wetlands, fishery carbon sinks, blue carbon policies, etc., build blue carbon laboratories, build blue carbon field positioning and observation systems and marine carbon sink data platforms, explore the cooperation mechanism of "entity + alliance", and jointly carry out blue carbon research with research institutions. At the same time, we should strengthen the education and publicity of coastal blue carbon ecological restoration and protection. Taking the promotion of carbon inclusiveness as an opportunity, encourage coastal provinces and cities to actively participate in the construction of the blue carbon inclusive mechanism system, and enhance the initiative and enthusiasm of the public and enterprises to participate.

The author is a student of the 2023 Autumn Semester Division-level Cadre Advanced Training Course of the Party School of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment