Mangroves could reduce carbon emissions in Southeast Asia by 50%

Conserving and restoring carbon-rich peatlands and mangroves in Southeast Asia would reduce more than 50% of the region’s land-use carbon emissions. Associate Professor Massimo Lupascu, Principal Investigator of the study explained, “If we conserved and restored the carbon-dense peatlands and mangroves in Southeast Asia, we could mitigate approximately 770 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent annually, or nearly double Malaysia’s national greenhouse gas emissions in 2023.” Professor David Taylor, a co-author of the paper pointed towards the importance of including these ecosystems in the NDCs of the Paris Agreement. He said, “Including both peatlands and mangroves in the new Nationally Determined Contributions that countries signed up to the Paris Agreement must update and re-commit to every five years can certainly contribute to increasing the ambition of countries across the region through the setting of higher emission reduction targets, although this would involve substantial investment in effective conservation and restoration.” While mentioning the economic benefits of these ecosystems, Assistant Professor Pierre Taillardat, a co-author of the paper said “Wetland soils may have little agronomic value, as they are generally not well-suited for traditional farming or crop cultivation, but they are unmatched in their ability to store and preserve carbon. This will enable local communities to lead carbon management efforts in a win-win scenario where livelihoods and sustainable ecosystems thrive together.” This study also provides up-to-date estimates of emissions from disturbed peatlands and mangroves across Southeast Asia from 2001 to 2022, broken down by land-use type and country.