Sally-Ann Hart is the MP for Hastings and Rye
Having been the Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Ocean, I am deeply committed to supporting and promoting the ocean and its role in tackling major challenges such as climate change, as well as ensuring our coastal communities continue to thrive. However, to protect our vital ocean ecosystems, we must ensure that the necessary capital is available to fund effective projects to restore and maintain our ocean habits.
The Ocean: Turning the Tide on Climate Change, the APPG’s first inquiry, examined the crucial role that blue carbon and ocean-based solutions play in mitigating against the harmful impacts of climate change. The ocean occupies over 70 per cent of the planet’s surface area and is the largest carbon sink in the world. It is estimated that the ocean has absorbed between 25 and 30 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions caused by human activity.
Whilst reducing carbon emissions is essential for preventing further buildup of carbon dioxide, there is already a significant amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Removing this carbon dioxide is the piece of the net zero puzzle which is often overlooked, and blue carbon can play a bigger role in enhancing the ocean’s capacity to absorb and store carbon dioxide.
As defined by the National Oceanography Centre, blue carbon is essentially the “marine equivalent of trees and forests”. In the UK, saltmarshes and seagrass meadows are amongst our most valuable coastal habitats for sequestering carbon but face significant threats. The loss of around 90 percent of seagrass meadows and almost as much of salt marshes across the UK over the past century means that efforts to restore and protect these ecosystems must be ramped up.
No government can afford to do this alone – we need private sector investment, and directing finance into blue carbon projects presents a key environmental and economic opportunity to support innovative solutions to halt and reverse this worrying trend.
Blue carbon markets are relatively new compared with markets for carbon sequestration on land, such as tree planting. However, with the huge and growing potential of blue carbon solutions, many businesses and organisations are looking to include such projects within their ESG investment goals. This growing demand suggests the blue carbon finance market could be worth up to $50 billion by 2030, according to the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM).
I was therefore delighted to chair a recent and timely APPG meeting, in late 2023, on the importance of blue carbon finance, with speakers including Harry Wright, CEO and Co-Founder of Bright Tide sustainability consultancy, and Dr Claire Evans, Principal Biogeochemist in Ocean BioGeosciences at the National Oceanography Centre. After hearing from the experts, it became apparent that several barriers must be overcome to unlock the flow of private finance towards blue carbon-based projects.
Firstly, blue carbon restoration in the UK has been sporadic and sparse. There are no best practice guidelines or criteria. This lack of standardisation means projects often fail. Additionally, the site selection for blue carbon restoration projects is often done ad-hoc and may overlook suitability. Furthermore, practical regulatory barriers can slow project development, such as limitations in marine spatial planning and obstacles to securing necessary approvals.
It is also clear that the current carbon finance market is diluted and fragmented. Without regulation or standardisation, there is no way of ensuring that blue carbon finance projects and their outcomes are being measured correctly or that the data is robust. These factors can often cause distrust in the markets, with major corporates, such as Shell, actually abandoning their plans to develop carbon offsets due to concerns around validity.
All this indicates that there is an important role for the UK government to play in ensuring best practice guidelines and building public trust and awareness into the benefits of blue carbon finance. The UK is a world-leader in ocean research and science, and we must utilise this even further to deliver and support blue carbon projects and financing. This can be done through better policy frameworks, clear government guidance on the delivery and standardisation of blue carbon projects and financing, and robust private and public sector partnerships.
Blue carbon ecosystems and restoration projects offer a huge amount of potential, especially for blue carbon finance. Working closely with the Government, business, and the ocean scientific community is the only way to unlock the full potential of blue carbon solutions and financing. The UK has an important role to play in harnessing blue carbon solutions and combatting climate change, and we must recognise the value of private and public sector partnerships to support this.
