Introduction to the special issue “Climate and marine justice – debates and critical perspectives”

Non-technical summary Substantive carbon is sequestered in mangrove, saltmarsh, seagrass, and other marine ecosystems. Blue carbon is considered to offer potential for enhanced carbon sequestration. Bringing blue carbon to market, however, presents risks to local people and communities with livelihood and other connections to these environments. While efforts are forged to establish payments for ecosystem services, blue carbon presents critical challenges to social and environmental justice. In this paper, we synthesize insights from relevant literature and provide direction for future research on the social and cultural dimensions of blue carbon. Technical summary Blue carbon has been proposed as a nature-based solution to mitigate climate change and is the focus of concerted scientific and policy attention. The rush to operationalize blue carbon however, presents significant risks for social and environmental justice where it intersects with inequality and marginalization. To date, the reasonable and just consequences of the social transformation that will accompany blue carbon are under-examined. We undertake a structured literature review of research published over the past decade that addresses the social and cultural dimensions of blue carbon, and chart four themes: (1) conceptual issues, (2) governance issues; (3) emergent lessons (from practice); and (4) future research directions that address: social acceptability; processes to address social justice including engagement, participation, and benefit sharing; information and data deficits; and institutional governance reform. If the stated opportunities are to be fully realized, we argue the social and cultural dimensions of blue carbon, and its intersections with social justice, must be attended to explicitly and clarified. Social media summary Just transitions to climate change mean attending to people, culture, and livelihoods as blue carbon is operationalized.

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Introduction to the special issue “Climate and marine justice – debates and critical perspectives”

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Resource Conflict and Governance in the Transition to a More Just Estuarine and Coastal Future

Resource Conflict and Governance in the Transition to a More Just Estuarine and Coastal Future

Environmental (in)justice in the Anthropocene ocean

Blue carbon as just transition? A structured literature review

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