Exploring the Synergy Between Payment for Ecosystem Services and Blue Carbon Credits in Yokohama City

This paper explores the potential synergies that can arise from the intersection of payments for ecosystem services (PES) and carbon credits. The Yokohama Blue Carbon Project encompasses seagrass beds and seaweed farms, which serve as a prime example of how climate mitigation measures can align with the enhancement of ecosystem functions. Notably, the conservation efforts directed towards seagrass beds preceded the introduction of carbon credits. The local certification of carbon credits, encompassing the valuation of PES, holds the potential to bolster both local nature conservation initiatives and climate mitigation strategies. In cases where PES is dissociated from carbon credits, the beneficiaries of ecosystem services are diverse, and reliance solely on the PES buyer for all maintenance costs is often untenable. Voluntary transactions between sellers and buyers are unlikely to be viable. In contrast, within the realm of carbon credit trading, the mitigation impact remains consistent regardless of the origin of the purchased credits, encouraging buyers to seek the most cost-effective options. Carbon credits enhance the value of seaweed aquaculture operations that could have been established independently of carbon credit incentives. By combining aspects of PES while the Blue Carbon project is based on carbon credits, a local certification system has been not only instituted but also expanded from Yokohama to Fukuoka City and eventually across Japan.