Thursday, 2nd February 2012
Preservation and Restoration of Blue Carbon Ecosystems
Struan Stevenson, as Chairman of the Climate Change, Biodiversity & Sustainable Development Intergroup in the European Parliament has sent the following written question to the European Commission:
Despite the current furore surrounding renewable energy and climate change targets in many EU Member States, the role of "blue carbon" in preventing climate change has gone unnoticed. Marine and coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses and tidal marshes act as a carbon sponge, in a similar way to onshore peatlands. In fact, one square mile of these coastal ecosystems can store and remove more carbon from oceans and the atmosphere than a square mile of mature tropical forest.
But coastal and marine systems are facing some serious threats from pollution, coastal activities and unsustainable management practices. Ironically, attempts by certain Member States to promote the spread of renewable energy technologies such as tidal, wave and offshore wind power will only cause further destruction of Europe's invaluable blue carbon ecosystems, leading to large amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.
Firstly, what steps are the Commission taking to ensure that the preservation and restoration of these ecosystems is fully integrated into all climate change mitigation strategies and biodiversity policies? Secondly, how will the Commission ensure that, when constructing renewable energy schemes such as tidal, wave and offshore wind power in order to meet the mandatory EU 2020 targets, Member States do not inadvertently destroy important blue carbon ecosystems?
