The Ministry of Environment and Water, MoEW, yesterday launched the National Blue Carbon Project report, marking the first national quantification of the UAE's Blue Carbon stocks, which will help guide decision-making in coastal ecosystem preservation and climate change mitigation.

The project was a collaborative initiative managed and facilitated by a partnership between MoEW and the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative, AGEDI, and implemented in collaboration with the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, EAD, alongside the local authorities of the other emirates.

The report was launched at the Ecocity World Summit 2015 in Abu Dhabi by the Ministry in collaboration with AGEDI and EAD, who had joined to celebrate the launching of the report. Alongside the event, Dr. Stephen Crooks, one the project's two principle investigators, presented its findings.

Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, said, "The National Blue Carbon Project report aims to broaden the scope of knowledge of blue carbon, its associated ecosystem services and the importance of assessment across coastal environments. This project is the first of its kind in the region and looks towards strengthening the UAE's leading position in issues concerning the environment, biodiversity and climate change at both regional and global levels."

He also said that the Blue Carbon Project represents an important step in efforts to conserve biodiversity and mitigate climate change, which is one of the main objectives of the National Strategy for Biodiversity, improving the contribution of ecosystems in carbon stocks by 2021 to help mitigate climate change by strengthening the capacity of marine and coastal ecosystems to absorb greenhouse gases. These systems have a better ability to absorb than any other source.

The project is an important landmark in the efforts to transform the national economy into a low-carbon green economy, in line with the UAE Green Growth Strategy, by linking biodiversity and ecosystem services to economic standards, where, "the value of natural resources" and "best use of resources" are key elements in the major sights supporting the mechanism for strategy implementation.

Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary-General of EAD, added, "Coastal ecosystems are an extremely important part of our culture and heritage, and they must be protected to safeguard our future, and this is something that can only be facilitated with access to timely, actionable information. This collaborative project is a reflection of a shared commitment to helping to guide decision-making towards environmental sustainability across the UAE, and for generations to come."
Source: WAM