News archive

Oceans & Blue Carbon at COP27

Oceans & Blue Carbon at COP27

This "live blog" features oceans, blue forests, and coastal and oceanic blue carbon related side events and discussions at UNFCCC COP27 (6 - 18 Nov). This post will be updated throughout the COP.For any suggested updates or edits please email: steven.lutz...

Oceans & Blue Carbon at COP26

Oceans & Blue Carbon at COP26

This live blog features oceans, blue forests, and coastal and oceanic blue carbon related side events at UNFCCC COP26 (31 Oct - 12 Nov). 31 events are listed. This post will be updated throughout the COP.For any suggested updates or edits please email: steven.lutz (@)...

Economic Resilience and COVID-19

Economic Resilience and COVID-19

Contributing authors: Olivia Polkinghorne, GRID-Arendal; Steven Lutz, GRID-Arendal; Rahma Kivugo, Mikoko Pamoja Community Organization; Montserrat Alban, Conservation International Ecuador; Xavier Chalen, Conservation International Ecuador

The Blue Forests Project Showcase Event and Webinar Series

The Blue Forests Project Showcase Event and Webinar Series

The Blue Forests Project held its final webinar yesterday, marking the close of the Month of Blue Forests webinar series and the Communities, Climate and Coastal Ecosystems showcase event. Below is a summary of each event. To catch up with recordings from all...

Can Whale Poo Help Save the Planet?

Can Whale Poo Help Save the Planet?

Washington, DC (July 6, 2021) —The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was founded to regulate whaling. Today, it also increasingly focuses on the value of live whales for planetary health. A new workshop report confirms the great ecological value of whales to help...

Blue Carbon: A New Conservation Frontier?

Blue Carbon: A New Conservation Frontier?

On June 9, 2021, the Blue Marine Foundation held an online conference titled, “Blue Carbon - A New Conservation Frontier?”. In anticipation for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), the goal of the conference was to explore the role of...

Oceanic Blue Carbon Infographics

Oceanic Blue Carbon Infographics

Oceanic blue carbon is a new concept recognizing how carbon can be fixed and stored in the ocean and seafloor sediments through the actions and influences of living marine organisms (e.g., fish, krill, sea turtles, and marine mammals such as whales and...

Norwegian Blue Forests

Norwegian Blue Forests

The Norwegian Government has granted approximately 327 million Norwegian kroner towards blue forests projects in 25 countries around the world since 2015In celebration of Earth day, the Norwegian Blue Forest Network (NBFN) has launched a landscape mapping of Norwegian...

Seagrass beds integrated in Cabo Verde’s NDC

Seagrass beds integrated in Cabo Verde’s NDC

The seagrass infographics produced for UNEP's Out of the Blue seagrass report informed and contributed to discussions which helped Capo Verde's recognize seagrass ecosystems in thier NDC.

Out of the Blue – Maps & Graphics

Out of the Blue – Maps & Graphics

Maps and Graphics from UNEP's Out Of the Blue report that synthesises current knowledge of seagrass ecosystems, highlights the many values they provide to people, and offers policy recommendations that fully recognise these values.All the seagrass maps and...

Discovering Wildlife and Nature

Discovering Wildlife and Nature

Today's new normal has been characterised by social distancing, quarantine measures and stay at home orders due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). In early March the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global pandemic.As we...

The wonder trees that nurture marine biodiversity

The wonder trees that nurture marine biodiversity

This 2020 theme for the International Day of Forests on 21 March is Forests and Biodiversity. It's an often-quoted fact that forests are home to 80 per cent of terrestrial biodiversity, but did you know that one type of tree also supports marine biodiversity—the...

Carbon sinks and human emissions

Carbon sinks and human emissions

Nature-based solutions, such as planting trees, rehabilitating seagrass beds, or restoring mangroves, can help solve the climate crisis by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An original story by Global Environment Facility.

World's largest mangrove carbon conservation project

World's largest mangrove carbon conservation project

With support from the Global Environment Facility and the UN Environment Blue Forests Project, the Tahiry Honko project has launched in the Bay of Assassins. An original story by Blue Venture.The Tahiry Honko project is helping to tackle climate breakdown and build...

The Ocean's Natural Solutions

The Ocean's Natural Solutions

Protecting and restoring mangrove swamps, salt marshes, seagrass meadows and kelp forests would halt biodiversity loss and soak up carbon emissions. An original story by Fred Pearce.

Nordic Blue Carbon

Nordic Blue Carbon

The Nordic Blue Carbon project and the Norwegian Blue Forests Network explore blue carbon in a Scandinavian contextBlue carbon ecosystems include mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and saltwater marshes, which are noted for their ability to store and sequester...

Blue carbon is not a silver bullet

Blue carbon is not a silver bullet

Blue carbon can store large amounts of carbon, but by themselves they’re not a solution to climate change. An original story by Oli Moraes.

Blue Carbon Enters US Presidential Race

Blue Carbon Enters US Presidential Race

This week, Elizabeth Warren, senator from Massachusetts and a candidate for US president, issued a Blue New Deal for Our Oceans that strongly features ‘blue carbon’. Through initiatives such as the UN Environment Blue Forests Project, GRID-Arendal has long worked on...