Recent research has focused on the high carbon accumulation rates of coastal ecosystems, such as those of mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes, as a means of sequestering (blue) carbon for climate mitigation purposes. Material from dead plants and animals in salt marshes accumulates over time in low-oxygen conditions, limiting the CO2 emissions from the normal […]
Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a seagrass and the primary rooted marine plant found in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest (which, for this study, will be taken as comprising the US states of Oregon and Washington, and the Canadian province of British Columbia). Unlike algae, it is a rooted plant and it traps, accumulates […]
Carbon that is stored in coastal and marine ecosystems is referred to as ‘blue carbon’. Blue carbon stocks (or carbon storage) have only recently been acknowledged as globally significant (Fourqurean et al. 2012). Meta-analyses reveal that blue carbon habitats, in particular mangroves, seagrass meadows and salt marshes, play a disproportionally large role in carbon sequestration […]
As part of a project of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, this Guide outlines the steps required to create or enhance a syndromic surveillance system to monitor extreme heat events, and highlights the experiences of three participating pilot communities from Canada, Mexico and United States. A successful syndromic surveillance system uses pre-diagnostic data sources to monitor for early signs of health effects in order to enable early public health response.
This analysis was prepared to improve understanding of opportunities for including the concept of blue carbon in Mexican public policy. This work forms part of the trinational project (Canada, United States and Mexico) of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) for 2015–2016: North American Blue Carbon: Next Steps in Science for Policy, which also seeks to improve communication and the exchange of information and lessons learned on this topic among the three countries, as well as improve the capacity for recovery of North American coastal zones. Based on the analysis performed, recommendations are offered that will help Mexico determine what strategies and which current policy tools can be used to improve the conservation and restoration of blue carbon-sequestering ecosystems, particularly mangroves.
The accomplishments of the sixteen projects implemented in 2013–2014 are summarized in this booklet. Detailed project summaries and budgets are available in the CEC’s Operational Plan 2013–2014. You can also consult the CEC’s Operational Plan 2011–2012, as well as its Strategic Plan for 2010–2015.
The forests of North America play an important role in the global greenhouse gas balance by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, storing it in forest ecosystems and in products manufactured from harvested wood, and providing society with wood for construction, energy and other uses. The objective of this project was to improve and harmonize methods for assessing changes in carbon stocks and causes of change, among the three countries of North America, and to develop tools for the estimation, reporting and projection of past and future forest greenhouse gas balances as affected by natural disturbances, forest management, and land-use change.
1. estimation of carbon stocks from mexico’s pantanos de centla mangroves. 2. quantification of soil organic carbon at eight national estuarine research reserve system marshes in the united states. 3. quantification of seagrass carbon stocks in the gulf of mexico from tip of florida to veracruz, mexico. 4. response of soil carbon accumulation rates in […]
Blue carbon denotes the long-term storage of carbon within plant habitats growing in coastal lands and near-shore marine environments. North American blue carbon habitats—seagrass, salt marsh, and mangrove—were assessed to determine their spatial distribution and to document these sinks of blue carbon. Maps of habitat distributions on the coasts of Canada, Mexico and the United States were collected, verified and compiled to create the first continent-wide areal assessment of blue carbon.
The forests of North America play an important role in the global greenhouse gas balance by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, storing it in forest ecosystems and in products manufactured from harvested wood, and providing society with wood for construction, energy and other uses. The objective of this project was to improve and harmonize methods for assessing changes in carbon stocks and causes of change, among the three countries of North America, and to develop tools for the estimation, reporting and projection of past and future forest greenhouse gas balances as affected by natural disturbances, forest management, and land-use change.
These guidelines are intended to provide a consistent methodology for developing black carbon inventories among the United States, Mexico and Canada, in order to improve cross-border comparisons and mitigation assessments. They are based on an extensive literature review and comparative evaluation of black carbon and underlying particulate matter emission inventory methods, resulting in a series of initial recommendations for “best practice” approaches.
This document supports the development of a global greenhouse gas (GHG) offset methodology for tidal wetland conservation. The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) provides a set of requirements which projects must meet before offsets are issued. The requirements for wetlands projects include determining the baseline scenario and anticipated GHG emissions, setting the project boundary, determining additionality, quantifying project GHG emissions and reductions, establishing the permanence of GHG emission reductions, and others.
