Fjords as globally significant hotspots for carbon burial and storage

Along coasts around the globe there is a growing understanding of emerging blue carbon ecosystems as nature-based solutions that can help to address the driver sand impacts of climate change. Coastal wetlands, such as mangroves, seagrasses, and saltmarshes, sequester significant amounts of carbon while also supporting community livelihoods and economies worldwide. Elsewhere, particularly at higher latitudes, coastal sedimentary environments such as fjords dominate as natural sediment traps which are also rich in organic carbon. Relative to their spatial extent,we know that more organic carbon is trapped and stored per unit area in the sediments of fjords (sea lochs) than any other marine sedimentary environment.

Until recently, our understanding of the organic carbon accumulation and burial rates in mid-latitude fjord sediments was poor but focused research in Scotland has made a significant contribution to this area of science. This report sets out the potential for Scotland to build a unique blue carbon global partnership initiative among “fjord nations” (including, Scotland, Norway, New Zealand, Chile, Denmark,Sweden, Canada, USA, Russia, and Greenland), with a view to protecting and restoring these environments to benefit local communities and enhancing a significant nature-based solution in the fight against climate change.