browse Browse

pac.dog pac.dog / CRS reports

R48148 — Coastal Blue Carbon as a Carbon Dioxide Removal Approach: Selected Issues for Congress

Reports · published 2025-04-29 · v5 · Active · crsreports.congress.gov ↗

Read
HTML · PDF
Authors
Eva Lipiec · Caitlin Keating-Bitonti
Report id
R48148
Summary

Recent Congresses have shown increased interest in the ability of certain coastal and marine ecosystems to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the ocean absorbs about 31% of global CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere. Coastal ecosystems provide benefits (also known as ecosystem services) to the human population, such as reducing coastal erosion and flooding and supporting recreation, tourism, and other activities. Certain coastal ecosystems—mangrove forests, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows—naturally capture and store CO2 (i.e., act as a carbon sink). Stakeholders have termed the CO2 captured and stored in certain coastal ecosystems coastal blue carbon. Although coastal blue carbon ecosystems represent 1% of the ocean area, these ecosystems store an estimated 50% of all carbon stored in the ocean. The scientific community’s understanding of the potential carbon dioxide removal (CDR) capacity of coastal blue carbon ecosystems is incomplete. Research continues regarding these ecosystems’ carbon sequestration, the rate at which the ecosystem can remove CO2 from the atmosphere; carbon storage, the ecosystem’s ability to store carbon and keep it from reentering the environment; and durability, the amount of time the ecosystem can store the carbon with a low risk of the carbon being reintroduced into the environment. Conversely, coastal blue carbon ecosystems also may serve as greenhouse gas sources if they are degraded or lost due to human activities or natural causes. Stakeholders contend that improved mapping of coastal blue carbon ecosystems and additional research about the carbon stock and sequestration rates of mangrove forests, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows are needed to better understand these ecosystems’ current and potential CO2 removal capacity. Mapping provides information about the present geographic coverage of a coastal blue carbon ecosystem. The ecosystem’s geographic coverage, coupled with analysis of soil samples collected from the ecosystem, provides information about the sequestration and storage of the coastal blue carbon at the scale of study (e.g., local or regional). Several federal agencies (e.g., Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NOAA, National Science Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey) have supported coastal blue carbon science related to mapping and estimating coastal blue carbon storage and sequestration and have coordinated and collaborated on these efforts. Information from these efforts may inform policy decisions related to the conservation, restoration, and creation (or expansion) of coastal blue carbon ecosystems to preserve or grow their carbon sink capacity. Given competing priorities for a finite area of coastline, among other considerations, some stakeholders may question the relative priority of coastal blue carbon considerations in such areas. Some Members of previous Congresses introduced legislation to address aspects of coastal blue carbon ecosystems. Issues for the 119th Congress related to coastal blue carbon ecosystems and science may include the federal government’s past role in coastal blue carbon science, such as mapping ecosystems and estimating their CDR capacity; conserving, restoring, and creating these ecosystems; coordinating federal agency activities; and overseeing collaboration between federal and nonfederal entities. Issues also may include funding for coastal blue carbon science and related activities. In addition, recent executive branch actions may affect the kinds of issues that are of congressional interest related to blue carbon ecosystems and science. The Trump Administration has made or proposed changes to federal agency staffing and funding across the executive branch, the effects of which are still unclear. Congress may conduct oversight of or reverse, amend, or codify in statute the Administration’s actions, including those that may directly or indirectly affect coastal blue carbon ecosystems as well as the science of these ecosystems and their associated CDR capacity.

Bills cited (17)

Curated by CRS — every bill listed in this report's relatedMaterials. Edge type cited_in_report, gold confidence.

pac.dog is a free, independent, non-partisan research tool. Every candidate, committee, bill, vote, member, and nonprofit on this site is mirrored from primary U.S. government sources (FEC, congress.gov, govinfo.gov, IRS) and each state's Secretary of State / election commission — no third-party data vendors, no paywall, no editorial intermediation. Citations to the originating source are on every detail page.