UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership

This webpage is hosted by Cefas as the secretariat for the UKBCEP

Purpose

The purpose of the UKBCEP is to facilitate co-ordination and collaboration across UK administrations and progress the evidence base on blue carbon habitats in the UK by addressing key research questions related to blue carbon policy, thus advancing the UK’s commitment to protecting and restoring blue carbon habitats as a nature-based solution. The Partnership works to ensure that the UK has a joint and robust shared scientific understanding of blue carbon.

High-Level Aims

The following high-level aims will shape the activities of the UKBCEP:

• Share information, data and knowledge on blue carbon evidence across UK administrations, including opportunities to work collaboratively.
• Enhance the evidence base surrounding the diverse blue carbon habitats found across the UK, including those beyond the 2013 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Wetlands Supplement.
• Enhance the understanding of human impacts on blue carbon habitats to inform policy decisions.
• Enhance the understanding of how blue carbon habitats contribute to climate adaptation benefits in the UK, and how this can be facilitated through management and restoration.

UKBCEP Partners

• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
• Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland (DAERA)
• Scottish Government
• Welsh Government

Contact

UKBCEPsecretariat@cefas.co.uk

NEWS

Seabed Carbon Risks: Evidence Shows Complex Picture.

The UK seabed plays an important role in climate mitigation, storing an estimated 240–524 million tonnes of carbon in the upper 10 cm alone. A new technical briefing reviews the latest evidence on how trawling, other human activities, and climate change affect seabed carbon. It presents new findings on how trawling gear interacts with the seabed, suggesting that emissions released from trawling, while still significant, are likely lower than previously estimated. Over/under estimating these emissions could lead to poorly targeted or ineffective policy. To address this, the authors highlight future evidence to fill critical knowledge gaps — including mapping carbon vulnerability, improving understanding of degradation and emission processes, and developing predictive models to help decision makers assess the trade offs across management options designed to meet biodiversity, climate, fisheries and energy goals.

This work led by the UK will be critical to inform ongoing international discussions on this topic. Working in partnership with academic institutions, industry, and environmental organisations both within the UK and internationally will be crucial to strengthening the confidence in the evidence needs base, and developing consensus on future direction of this topic.

The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership: Evidence Needs Statement:

Blue carbon habitats, such as saltmarsh, seagrass, marine sediments, and kelp forests are of huge global value, providing important benefits for people, climate, and nature. However, several knowledge gaps on how best to manage these important ecosystems remain.

This new report aims to help accelerate action to manage, protect, enhance and restore blue carbon habitats in the UK by identifying gaps in current research. The Evidence Needs Statement draws on the latest science, policy, and delivery expertise across the UK to identify several critical ‘evidence gaps’ in the management, creation, and protection of blue carbon habitats.

Read more here: New report calls for critical gaps in blue carbon ecosystem research to be addressed - Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science)

Professor Graham Underwood appointed new Chair of the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership

The UKBCEP is pleased to announce that marine and freshwater biologist, Professor Graham Underwood, has been appointed as its new chair. Read more here. The Partnership secretariat and steering group would like to thank their outgoing, interim chair, Robert Bradburne for his work throughout the Partnership’s first year.

The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership was announced on the COP26 Ocean Action Day (5^th November 2021) with the following statement:

“The UK announced its intention to work together to help establish a new cross-Administration UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership to progress the evidence base on blue carbon habitats in UK waters, advancing our commitment to protecting and restoring blue carbon habitats as a nature-based solution. Through this partnership, UK Administrations will work together to address key research questions related to blue carbon policy, including working to fill the evidence gaps that currently hinder inclusion of saltmarsh and seagrass habitats into the UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory”.