2025-03-24
来源：Ocean & Coastal Management Volume 265, June 2025, 107644
作者：刘大海
中国人民大学公共管理学院教授
摘要：
Blue carbon ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrass meadows, and salt marshes, are internationally acclaimed as crucial Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for combating climate change due to their extraordinary carbon sequestration capabilities and invaluable ecosystem services. Nevertheless, their preservation and restoration currently encounter formidable challenges such as acute financial deficits, mismatches between project supply and market demand, information opacity, and legal ambiguities. These challenges severely limit the scalability and innovative development of global blue carbon projects. This paper adopts a holistic approach, concentrating on how blue carbon financing can sustainably underpin ecosystem conservation and restoration, and introduces an innovative conceptual framework for blue carbon financing mechanisms.
Through an extensive analysis of international blue carbon policy frameworks, carbon market dynamics, and benchmark project case studies, this research pioneers a comprehensive logical model of blue carbon financing. At its core is a strategic triad: "Principles and Guidelines—Financial Instruments and Markets—Project Implementation." The proposed framework advocates establishing a diverse portfolio of blue carbon financial tools within multilateral governance contexts, including the UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement, and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This integrated approach ensures a seamless financial support chain from policy formulation to practical market execution.
In terms of financial instrument innovation, this paper systematically categorizes blue carbon financial products into four distinct segments: (1) Spot instruments, primarily carbon credit assets, forming the foundational transaction basis; (2) Financing mechanisms, including blue carbon bonds, collateralized carbon asset financing, repurchase agreements, and asset custodial arrangements designed to address initial project funding gaps; (3) Trading products, encompassing derivatives such as futures, options, and swaps, which facilitate market price discovery and investor risk mitigation; and (4) Supportive instruments, including blue carbon insurance schemes and specialized funds, providing risk control and enhancing creditworthiness for carbon asset management. This classification represents a novel contribution to blue carbon finance literature, offering practical guidance for financial institutions actively participating in blue carbon markets.
The paper further delineates a clear roadmap for blue carbon project development, outlining financial interventions at each critical stage: initial funding procurement, risk dispersion and liquidity enhancement during project execution, and value monetization via carbon trading in the project's later phases. The framework emphasizes the pivotal role played by third-party institutions in enhancing credit ratings, ensuring transparency, and standardizing market conduct, underscoring their indispensable intermediary and regulatory roles within the blue carbon financial ecosystem.
This study significantly enriches theoretical insights into blue carbon finance and provides comprehensive investment strategies for marine carbon sequestration initiatives. Its outcomes offer crucial insights for developing nations striving to access international climate funding and integrate marine carbon sequestration within national and regional climate policies. Especially in the current global drive towards carbon neutrality and ecological stewardship, the blue carbon financing framework presented here provides proactive theoretical support and pragmatic pathways toward constructing robust "blue finance" systems and optimizing multilateral cooperative mechanisms. Ultimately, this approach holds strategic importance for accelerating the scaling and enduring viability of blue carbon initiatives globally.
关键词：
Blue carbon finance；Blue carbon management；Blue carbon project；Trading mechanism
