Blue COP: Parties should look to Antarctic blue carbon for vision of non-market cooperative approach to emission reduction

The statement advocates for a non-market platform connecting the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) to collectively account for carbon stocks in the Southern Ocean. It highlights that Antarctic blue carbon sites, which are expanding as ice melts, could store up to 160 million tonnes of carbon annually and act as a major natural negative feedback on climate change. By utilizing the ATS's existing framework where sovereignty claims are suspended, the authors suggest a way to bypass diplomatic obstacles to conservation and avoid conflicts over individual Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

• Antarctic blue carbon sinks are expanding as climate change causes polar sea ice, glaciers, and ice-shelves to melt, allowing open ocean and colonising ecosystems to sequester carbon dioxide into sediments.
• Conservative estimates suggest that Antarctic blue carbon sites can store up to 160,000,000 tonnes of carbon every year and could potentially be the largest natural negative feedbacks on climate change globally.
• The authors propose creating a non-market platform linking the UNFCCC Paris Agreement with the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) to enable collective carbon accounting and attribution for the Southern Ocean, which would incentivise the protection of marine ecosystems over future commercial interests.
• The cooperative governance of the ATS, where state sovereignty claims are put 'on hold', aligns with the non-market cooperative climate action framework described in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

APA

Gogarty, B., Downey, R., Barnes, D., McGee, J., & Sands, C. (2019). Blue COP: Parties should look to Antarctic blue carbon for vision of non-market cooperative approach to emission reduction. Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/blue-cop-parties-should-look-to-antarctic-blue-carbon-for-vision-of-non-market-cooperative-approach-to-emission-reduction/

Chicago

Gogarty, Brendan, Rachel Downey, David Barnes, Jeff McGee, and Chester Sands. Blue COP: Parties should look to Antarctic blue carbon for vision of non-market cooperative approach to emission reduction. Climate Strategies, 2019. https://climatestrategies.org/blue-cop-parties-should-look-to-antarctic-blue-carbon-for-vision-of-non-market-cooperative-approach-to-emission-reduction/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Gogarty |first1=Brendan |last2=Downey |first2=Rachel |last3=Barnes |first3=David |last4=McGee |first4=Jeff |last5=Sands |first5=Chester |title=Blue COP: Parties should look to Antarctic blue carbon for vision of non-market cooperative approach to emission reduction |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=29 November 2019 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/blue-cop-parties-should-look-to-antarctic-blue-carbon-for-vision-of-non-market-cooperative-approach-to-emission-reduction/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{gogarty2019blue, author = {Gogarty, Brendan and Downey, Rachel and Barnes, David and McGee, Jeff and Sands, Chester}, title = {{Blue COP: Parties should look to Antarctic blue carbon for vision of non-market cooperative approach to emission reduction}}, publisher = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/blue-cop-parties-should-look-to-antarctic-blue-carbon-for-vision-of-non-market-cooperative-approach-to-emission-reduction/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }