Scientist assessing carbon sequestration rate
Should it therefore be possible for Blue Carbon to become the tool to incentivise the preservation of such land ?
Q5 : Where should policymakers stand on this matter ? Similar to forest and agricultural projects , offset credits are the de facto emissions trading scheme for seagrass projects which face low-cost offsets regardless of the origin of the credits . A marketplace and conservation approach coupled with an origination story behind the creation of the credits need to be promoted to support the broader strategic priorities of such projects . Japan will in 2024 begin to account for blue carbon in the national inventory calculations . For a resource-rich country such as Malaysia , it may seem like a loss of opportunity to not account for such contributions in Malaysia ’ s inventory as well .
Of the possible nature-based solutions evaluated by companies worldwide , such as algae , that enjoy payment for ecosystem services and forestry carbon offsets , it makes one wonder if seagrass conservation and seagrass meadow cultivation might not be a better solution and should be prioritised since shoreline protection , improved water quality as well as protection of habitat for fish populations are directly beneficial to our economic growth and yield shorter returns ?
Author ’ s hope Carbon flows within the highly variable environment in the coastal zone raise questions as to whether emissions and removals are natural or anthropogenic . This makes it very difficult to measure the carbon impact of seagrass , and with the lack of data in many developing countries , estimates of carbon sequestration are highly uncertain . Would Malaysia be able to monetise the carbon from seagrass protection and conservation ? Would Malaysia be able to increase tourism revenues by leveraging on seagrass diversity ? What might the opportunities and investments be to develop baselines to support the creation of a seagrass carbon methodology for Malaysia ? These questions remain unanswered but it is hoped that readers will become more aware of such a lesserknown climate mitigation solution .
At time of writing , it seems that Malaysia is not a member or partner of the International Partnership on Blue Carbon . With a greater demand for CO 2 offsets , would it not be a good time for Malaysia to actively participate and explore other CO 2 offset generation sources ?
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