mikebaird's Flickr photostream/Creative Commons

Efforts to protect and enhance the ability of oceans and marine ecosystemes to absorb carbon dioxide should be allowed to receive carbon credits just as projects to protect rainforests will, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

While I fully support efforts to protect and restore marine ecosystems, and believe they have the potential to provide significant climate protection, I think we should also be aware of potential abuses to carbon trading schemes or an overestimation of absorption rates.

That said, the benefits of rewarding marine protection efforts could be huge and are clearly necessary.  According to Emily Corcoran, one of the authors of the U.N. report, marine ecosystems are: 

disappearing rapidly due to pressures from urban construction, dredging for ports and navigation channels, and upstream activities such as damming and irrigation.  In some places these habitats are disappearing faster than rainforests — something we’ve all been made aware of.  It’s a resource that can help us achieve the goals and targets governments are negotiating at the moment (and) it’s a relatively simple and cheap proposition to invest in managing these areas to stop the loss.

As we approach the U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen this December, I believe we should put all the possible solutions on the table, as we’re going to need many different approaches to combating the climate crisis.  Use the action link below to find out what you can do to get involved.