Configuring Legitimate Blue Carbon Rights for Coastal Fishing Villages Based on Forestry Carbon MRV

Abstract

Um, D.-B., 2021. Configuring legitimate blue carbon rights for coastal fishing villages based on forestry carbon MRV. In: Lee, J.L.; Suh, K.-S.; Lee, B.; Shin, S., and Lee, J. (eds.), Crisis and Integrated Management for Coastal and Marine Safety. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 114, pp. 380–384. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Blue carbon refers to carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by the coastal ecosystems. The price of carbon credit in South Korea initiated in January 2015 has soared more than five times as of 2020. Even if domestic companies participating in emission trading want to invest in offset trading of blue carbon abundant in the coastal area of South Korea, there is no fundamental governance to trade blue carbon. This article suggests ways to configure legitimate carbon rights through Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) by defining the sub-category of blue carbon compared to forest carbon. This MRV contract between wetland villages and local companies could be implemented by guaranteeing carbon rights to wetland village communities from land ownership. Although South Korea has been selected as a case study for this paper, this discussion is relevant to other countries that face blue carbon incentives to attract local companies' emission reduction demand.