Protecting Antarctica's coastal blue carbon: a case for international cooperation

• Main Authors: Gogarty, B, Bax, N, Barnes, DKA, Sands, C, McGee, J, Haward, M, Lund Paulsen, M, Moreno, B, Moreau, C, Held, C, Downey, R
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Edward Elgar Publishing 2020
• Subjects: Law and Legal Studies; Environmental and resources law; Climate change law; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788112239; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/142540

As sea-ice around Antarcticas coastlines retracts, a massive blue carbon area is emerging to replace it. This is a growing resource that is predicted to become the worlds largest natural carbon sequestration area. Given the loss of carbon sinks elsewhere and the existential threat of unabated climate change, this is an incredibly important global good that must be protected and promoted. In this chapter, we explore the legal and diplomatic barriers to that protection and posit potential solutions. In particular, we suggest vertical institutional linkage between the Antarctic Treaty System and the United Nations climate regimes as a way of incentivizing the establishment of global cooperative marine protected areas around Antarcticas coasts.