Scottish blue carbon action plan

Executive Summary

Scotland’s coastal and marine environments have been recognised for many years for their biodiversity value. There is now a growing understanding of the role of some habitats as natural carbon stores and for their potential contribution to climate change mitigation. In Scottish waters, these blue carbon habitats include saltmarsh and seagrass, with a growing focus on the large stores of carbon in seabed sediments and the importance of kelp and other seaweeds for carbon uptake. Blue carbon habitats are important natural stores of organic carbon that have built up over long time periods, in some cases up to thousands of years or longer.

This action plan sets out how the Scottish Government will work to integrate the latest evidence on blue carbon into nature conservation and climate change policies and actions that will be taken to address key evidence gaps. In doing so, this action plan sets out the Scottish Government’s position on blue carbon, outlines the policy landscape, and provides details on each habitat, including on the current state of scientific understanding and where there are gaps that need to be addressed. Addressing these evidence gaps means that blue carbon habitats can be supported effectively and with the right tools, so that they can form part of the broader Government strategy to tackle the climate crisis.

The Scottish Government’s priority for blue carbon is to ensure these habitats are protected and supported to minimise and avoid unnecessary release of this carbon, while also recognising that enhancement and restoration of habitats may also be able to make a small contribution to climate change mitigation.