EU-China international cooperation on blue carbon

Blue carbon, understood as coastal marine ecosystems such as seagrass, saltmarshes and mangroves are reported under the chapter of the IPCC inventory guidelines devoted to wetlands. The project aims to investigate this reporting and whether other ecosystems could be included.

Actions are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• An understanding of how the different elements of blue carbon in coastal waters of European countries and the People’s Republic of China contributes to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Better knowledge of how human activity in managing, destroying or regenerating blue carbon affects its emissions and sequestration of greenhouse gases.
• Measurement techniques for calibration, validation and monitoring blue carbon sequestration and emissions.
• A preliminary estimate of the actual and potential contribution of greenhouse gas emissions and removals by blue carbon ecosystems for the EU and the People’s Republic of China.

The project(s) should:

• Classify the main parameters that affect emissions and sequestration.
• Develop and test methods for measuring, modelling, and monitoring emissions and removals of greenhouse gases.
• Propose and test a portfolio of methods for managing blue carbon to reduce emissions and increase sequestration.
• Cover representative sample sites on European coasts and those of the People’s Republic of China.
• Assess the current and potential contribution of blue carbon to national greenhouse gas inventories and reporting to UNFCCC and determine how the verification and monitoring could be improved.
• Identify whether and how net carbon removals through algae cultivation and human activity in other coastal ecosystems could be quantified.
• Engage with international bodies and researchers tackling the same issue.

Development of specific technologies above TRL 4 are out of the scope of this topic.

This topic is part of the EU-China flagship initiative on Climate Change and Biodiversity, which will promote substantial coordinated and balanced cooperation between the EU and China, and is within the scope of the Administrative Arrangement between the European Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (MOST) on a Co-funding Mechanism for the period 2021-2024 to support collaborative research projects under the Climate Change and Biodiversity (CCB) and the Food, Agriculture and Biotechnologies (FAB) flagship initiatives.

Interactions with other actions developed under the EU-China Climate Change and Biodiversity Research Flagship and/or the Flagship on Food, Agriculture and Biotechnologies are encouraged.

Actions should, during their lifetime and within the framework applicable to the cooperation with Chinese entities, establish synergies with relevant Horizon Europe projects and initiatives, such as under cluster 5 destination 1 topic D1-5: Enhanced quantification and understanding of natural and anthropogenic methane emissions and sinks, as well as under cluster 6, in particular topic HORIZON-CL6-2023-CLIMATE: Ocean and coastal waters carbon- and biodiversity-rich ecosystems and habitats in Europe and the Polar Regions, Copernicus Marine Services and the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.