The conservation and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems including mangroves, seagrass, tidal marshes, seaweed beds, and other ecosystems, offers the potential to mitigate climate change while providing a wide range of ecosystem services to coastal communities. The scientific concepts underlying the blue carbon concept have been established for over a decade with tangible outcomes, particularly for mangroves. The growth in awareness of blue carbon has led to policies in Australia and elsewhere that incentivize conservation and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems, but these often remain limited in their application. Some of the barriers to wide-spread implementation are knowing where and how to implement blue carbon projects, as well as how to secure them against the impacts of climate change and ensure they are just and fair, consistent with social and environmental safeguards. The complexity of the challenges requires transdisciplinary science and adaptable processes.