Blue carbon refers to the carbon captured by the world’s ocean and coastal ecosystems. In California, blue carbon ecosystems include tidal marshes, seagrass meadows, and kelp. These ecosystems are incredibly valuable – in addition to sequestering carbon, they support fisheries and biodiversity, improve water quality, stabilize sediments, and provide recreational and cultural value, among many other ecosystem functions.  

CARB is responsible for co-developing and modeling Natural and Working Lands (NWL) future projected scenarios to set state carbon targets. Not all of California’s blue carbon was previously included, in part due to a lack of historical data. However, recent advancements in data quantity and quality over past years, particularly in tidal marshes, highlight the need for an assessment to determine if this new information is sufficient to include these ecosystems into the CARB’s target setting and NWL carbon stock inventory methodology in its 2027 Scoping Plan. Inclusion of blue carbon ecosystems in California’s climate mitigation strategies will help drive management, protection, and restoration priorities for the State.