Japan’s Ministry of the Environment and Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture convened an online “Japan-Brazil Technical Meeting on Blue Carbon” on June 29, 2026, according to Japan’s Ministry of the Environment. The session marked the first sector-specific policy dialogue held under the memorandum of cooperation (MOC) on environmental matters that Japan and Brazil signed in March 2025, and follows earlier exchanges on blue carbon envisioned within that MOC, including a joint appearance by Brazilian fisheries officials at a Japan-hosted side event during COP30 in Belém in November 2025.
At the meeting, Japan presented its blue carbon policy framework, approaches to incorporating blue carbon into its greenhouse gas inventory, and calculation methodologies, while Brazil described its mangrove conservation and seaweed aquaculture policies and initiatives. Opening remarks were delivered by Masako Ogawa, described as International Special Negotiator at Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, and by Ana Paula Leite Prates, identified as head of the Marine and Coastal Management Division within the Climate Change Department of Brazil’s environment ministry. Closing remarks came from Fernanda Gomes de Paula, described as director of Brazil’s National Aquaculture Department.
Government officials, along with experts and private-sector representatives from both countries, discussed blue carbon calculation methods, reflection of blue carbon in GHG inventories, methods for evaluating carbon fixation through seaweed aquaculture, the design of blue carbon credit systems, and possible future Japan-Brazil collaboration. The two sides indicated shared interest in jointly developing science-based evaluation methods and in advancing coastal-ecosystem conservation and climate measures built around blue carbon.
Carbon Market Context
- Established voluntary carbon methodologies already cover blue carbon restoration relevant to the topics discussed, including Verra’s VM0033 for tidal wetland and seagrass restoration and mangrove-specific methodologies from Gold Standard and Isometric — part of the broader landscape into which any future blue carbon credit design, as raised in the talks, would fit.
- Blue carbon crediting activity to date remains a relatively small slice of the voluntary market, with cumulative volumes on the order of roughly 8.4 million tonnes of CO2e registered across such projects, of which about 4.8 million have been issued and 3.6 million retired.
Source
- 「ブルーカーボンに関する日伯技術会合」を開催しました環境省 — 報道発表, published 2026-07-13