Green Carbon
Tropical,
Subtropical,
Savannas,
Shrublands
Temperate
Boreal
Forest
Deserts and
Dry Shrubland
Forest
Tropical,
Temperate Subtropical
Grasslands, Forests
Savannas
Shrublands
Tundra
Gigatonnes
of C stored in
terrestrial
biomes
547.8
loss of tropical rainforests, the fact that near 55% of all
green carbon is captured by living organisms not on land,
285.3
but in oceans, has been widely ignored, possibly our great-
est deficit in mitigating climate change. The carbon cap-
tured by marine organisms is herein called “blue carbon”.
178.0
BLUE CARBON
Blue carbon is the carbon captured by the world’s oceans 183.7
and represents more than 55% of the green carbon. The
carbon captured by living organisms in oceans is stored in
the form of sediments from mangroves, salt marshes and 314.9
seagrasses. It does not remain stored for decades or centu-
Tonnes of C stored per hectare
ries (like for example rainforests), but rather for millennia.
325
In this report, the prospects and opportunities of binding
carbon in oceans is explored.
130
384.2
50
Figure 5: 45% of green carbon stored in natural terrestrial
ecosystems and the remaining 55% is captured by living organ-
isms in oceans by plankton and ocean’s blue carbon sinks.
Source: UNEP-WCMC, 2009.
155.4
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