Journal Article

The blue carbon wealth of nations

Autoren

  • Bertram
  • C.
  • Quaas
  • M.
  • Reusch
  • T.B.H.
  • Vafeidis
  • A.T.
  • Wolff
  • C.
  • Rickels
  • W.
Erscheinungsdatum

Carbon sequestration and storage in mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows is an essential coastal ‘blue carbon’ ecosystem service for climate change mitigation. Here we offer a comprehensive, global and spatially explicit economic assessment of carbon sequestration and storage in three coastal ecosystem types at the global and national levels. We propose a new approach based on the country-specific social cost of carbon that allows us to calculate each country’s contribution to, and redistribution of, global blue carbon wealth. Globally, coastal ecosystems contribute a mean ± s.e.m. of US$190.67 ± 30 bn  yr−1 to blue carbon wealth. The three countries generating the largest positive net blue wealth contribution for other countries are Australia, Indonesia and Cuba, with Australia alone generating a positive net benefit of US$22.8 ± 3.8 bn  yr1 for the rest of the world through coastal ecosystem carbon sequestration and storage in its territory.

Schlagworte

  • CO2-Sequestrierung
  • Küstenökosysteme
  • Wohlfahrtsmessung