Study to assess financial value of blue carbon nearing completion

ISLAMABAD: The study to assess the financial value of blue carbon is likely to be completed before the upcoming federal budget with government officials claiming the initial results showed it would be worth millions of dollars.

According to the details, the government launched the Blue Carbon project with the assistance of the World Bank last year in order to assess carbon assets for the first time in Pakistan. The study is a key part of this project that would help realize the true financial value of blue carbon. It is generally considered as a powerful weapon in the fight against climate change.

The project has also an important role in promoting the blue economy to create job opportunities, boost tourism, attract investment and generate renewable energy. The federal government has pinned high hopes on the study that according to it would help tap the natural resources to boost national economy.

Blue carbon is carbon stored by the ocean, and the main players are coastal wetlands (i.e. mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrasses). These ecosystems are the most efficient natural carbon sinks, sequestering carbon faster than terrestrial forests and locking down carbon in their soils for centuries and/or millennia. Thus, they play a huge role in fighting climate change. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said the study to evaluate the financial value of blue carbon is currently under way and the final report was likely to be prepared in the coming months.