Protecting Antarctic blue carbon: as marine ice retreats can the law fill the gap? (original) (raw)

As marine-ice around Antarctica retracts a vast 'blue-carbon' sink, in the form of living biomass, is emerging. Properly promoted and protected, Antarctic continental shelf blue-carbon promises to act as a rebound buffer against further climate change by forming the world's largest natural negative feedback on climate change. However, this may be challenging, given the uniqueness of the region and the legal systems that govern it. In this interdisciplinary study, we explain: the global significance of Antarctic Blue-carbon to international carbon mitigation efforts; the need for, and nature of, the urgent international legal protections needed to ensure that promise is realised; and the global governance challenges in implementing such international legal protections. In order to overcome current impediments to the protection of this vital resource we recommend the development of an interinstrument governance framework that quantifies the sequestration value of Antarctic blue-carbon areas and allows states to attribute current and future cessation activities in these areas towards their climate mitigation commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. • Ice-shelve melt around Antarctica has the potential to produce an ecosystem service rebound of up to 260,000,000 tonnes/annual carbon mobilisation in the form of blue-carbon. • Protecting biomass rich Antarctic marine areas has proved notoriously difficult to date; incentives are needed to encourage conservation over commercial use of such zones by fishing states. • Allowing Antarctic fishing states to account for the carbon sequestration value of blue-carbon zones through a non-market approach under the Paris Agreement would provide a vital incentive to their protection.