Journal article
Blue carbon inventories of Spain and Portugal for their inclusion in national climate mitigation strategies
Marine pollution bulletin, Vol.228, pp.1-16
25/03/2026
PMID: 41887102
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Abstract
The fast changes in climate are driving global efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions and offset those that cannot be avoided. Interest in vegetated coastal ecosystems, known as Blue Carbon Ecosystems (BCEs), has grown rapidly due to their potential contribution to global carbon sequestration. Spain and Portugal host two of the main BCEs types; seagrass meadows and tidal marshes. To date, no comprehensive national assessment of BCEs carbon stocks has been conducted for Spain and Portugal. We have assessed the magnitude of the carbon sink associated with them across the entire Iberian Peninsula and insular Spanish territories and the potential CO2 emission resulting from their degradation. The BCEs in the studied area are estimated to store 95 Tg CO2-eq in the biomass and top meter of soil, equivalent to about 25% of the CO2 emissions of Spain and Portugal in 2022. The average rate of accumulation of organic carbon to the soil stock was estimated at 0.15 Tg CO2-eq y−1, equivalent to 0.04% of the annual anthropogenic CO2eq emissions of these two countries (in 2022). Additionally, the loss of BCEs in Spain and Portugal over the last century may have released 11–27 Tg CO2-eq, whereas we predicted that 1.3–5.6 Tg CO2-eq will be released over the next 30 years. Which underscores the urge to increase conservation and restoration efforts. This study provides the first comprehensive Spanish and Portuguese national blue carbon inventory for its inclusion in NDCs, providing baseline data for the implementation of blue carbon offsetting projects.
Details
- Title
- Blue carbon inventories of Spain and Portugal for their inclusion in national climate mitigation strategies
- Creators
- Nerea Piñeiro-Juncal - Universidade de VigoOscar Serrano - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de BlanesCarmen B de Los Santos - University of AlgarveNuria Marbà - Mediterranean Institute for Advanced StudiesElena Díaz-Almela - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de BlanesFernando Tuya - Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran CanariaInés Mazarrasa - Instituto de Física de CantabriaJoxe Mikel Garmendia - Marine Technology UnitXosé Lois Otero - Universidade de Santiago de CompostelaKarina Inostroza - Ajuntament de L’HospitaletJordi F Pagès - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de BlanesGonzalo Mendez-Martínez - Universidade de VigoEmilio Fernandez - Universidade de VigoAna I Sousa - University of AveiroAntonio Camacho - Parc Científic de la Universitat de ValènciaEnric Ballesteros - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de BlanesCarlota Barañano - Instituto de Agricultura SostenibleFay Belshe - University of FloridaIrene Bernabeu - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de BlanesFernando G Brun - Universidad de CádizAlba Camacho-Santamans - Institut de Biologia EvolutivaAntonio Delgado - Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la TierraMartin Dahl - Södertörn UniversityCarlos M Duarte - King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyFernando Espino - Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran CanariaJavier Franco - Marine Technology UnitMaria da Conceiçao Freitas - University of LisbonJordi Garcia-Orellana - Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaBernat Garrigos - Fundacio Investigacio Hospital General Universitari De ValenciaEnric Gomis - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de BlanesRicardo Haroun - Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran CanariaIgnacio Hernandez - Universidad de CádizJosé A Juanes - Instituto de Física de CantabriaCarmen Leiva-Dueñas - Aarhus UniversityPaul Lavery - Edith Cowan UniversityAna I Lillebø - University of AveiroVera Lopes - University of LisbonClaudia Majtenyi-Hill - University of GothenburgCandela Marco-Mendez - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de BlanesMárcio Martins - Centro de Ciências do Mar do AlgarveBriac Monnier - Université de Corse Pascal PaoliDaniel Morant - Parc Científic de la Universitat de ValènciaNatalia Montero - Marine Technology UnitJoão M Neto - University of CoimbraBarbara Ondiviela - Universidad de CantabriaGloria Peralta - Universidad de CádizAntonio Picazo - Parc Científic de la Universitat de ValènciaGloria Reithmaier - University of GothenburgCarlos Rochera - Parc Científic de la Universitat de ValènciaMarta Román - Universidade de VigoIsaac R Santos - University of GothenburgRui Santos - University of AlgarveEduard Serrano - Ajuntament de L’HospitaletMontserrat Soler - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de BlanesYu Yau Yau - University of GothenburgBoris Weitzmann - Parc de SalutImen Zribi - Tunis UniversityMiguel Ángel Mateo - Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes
- Publication Details
- Marine pollution bulletin, Vol.228, pp.1-16
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Grant note
- This work is a contribution of the groups Group of Benthic Ecology (SGR-00405), Group of Aquatic Macrophyte Ecology (GAME-CSIC-632711), the Spanish Group of Experts in Blue Carbon Ecosystems (G3ECA - RED2024-153711-E), and the CSIC Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform OCEANS+, funded by the European Union-Next Generation EU Agreement between MITECO, CSIC, AZTI, SOCIB, and the universities of Vigo and Cadiz, to promote research and generate scientific knowledge in the field of marine sustainability. This work has received financial support from the Xunta de Galicia (Centro de Investigación de Galicia accreditation 2019–2022) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund - ERDF). NPJ was supported by a Juan de la Cierva fellowship (JDC2022-048342-I, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union “NextGenerationEU”/“PRTR”). CBdlS received Portuguese national funds from FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology through projects FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology through contracts UID/04326/2025, UID/PRR/04326/2025 and LA/P/0101/2020 (DOI:10.54499/LA/P/0101/2020) and 2020.03825.CEECIND (DOI:10.54499/2020.03825.CEECIND/CP1597/CT0005), and from the Autonomous Government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía, contract DGP_EMEC_2023_00537). MR was supported by a post-doc fellowship from the Xunta de Galicia (ED481A-2020/199). A.C-S was supported by a FPU Predoctoral Scholarship by the Spanish Ministry of Science Innovation and Universities under Grant FPU21/04314. IRS was funded by the Swedish Research Council (2020-00457). AIS and AIL were supported by national funds from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, I.P./MCTES) through the project PORBIOTA and the financial support to CESAM under the project/grant UID/50006 + LA/P/0094/2020 (doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0094/2020); AIS was also supported by FCT/MCTES through the project/contract DOI:10.54499/CEECIND/00962/2017/CP1459/CT0008. This work was supported by projects LIFE BLUE NATURA (LIFE14CCM/ES/000957), funded by European Union; CLIMAWET-CONS (PID2019-104742RB-I00) and WETCARVER (PDC2022–133205–I00), funded by MICINN and/or AEI, of the Spanish Government, supported with FEDER–EU and MRR–EU Funds, respectively; project SEAFRONT (TED2021-132132B-C22, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and the framework of the activities of the Spanish Government through the “Maria de Maeztu Centre of Excellence” accreditation to IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) (CEX2021-001198). We acknowledge the support of the Spanish MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR (TED2021-129973B-I00; Restoration beyond biodiversity: How to integrate estuarine ecosystem services into nature-based management (MarshA) to B.O).
- Identifiers
- 991013370630202368
- Copyright
- © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
- Academic Unit
- National Marine Science Centre; National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article