Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore.
Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 1 Arts Link, Singapore 117570, Singapore.
Curr Biol. 2021 Apr 26;31(8):1737-1743.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.070. Epub 2021 Feb 17.
Despite the outsized role of mangrove forests in sustaining biodiversity, ecosystem function, and local livelihoods, the protection of these vital habitats through blue carbon financing has been limited. Here, we quantify the extent of this missed conservation and financial opportunity, showing that the protection of ∼20% of the world's mangrove forests (2.6 Mha) can be funded through carbon financing. Of these investible areas, 1.1-1.3 Mha can be financially sustainable over a 30-year time frame based on carbon prices of US$5-9.4 tCOe. This contributes up to 29.8 MtCOe year and yields a return on investment of ∼US$3.7 billion per year. Our results point toward a disproportionately large potential of blue carbon finance that can be leveraged to meet national-level climate mitigation goals, particularly if combined with other conservation interventions that further safeguard carbon stocks and biodiversity in these irreplaceable forests. Robust information on return on investment highlights the potential for currently underutilized tropical coastal carbon credit projects.
尽管红树林在维持生物多样性、生态系统功能和地方生计方面发挥了巨大作用，但通过蓝碳融资来保护这些重要栖息地的工作却受到了限制。在这里，我们量化了这种被忽视的保护和金融机会的程度，结果表明，通过碳融资可以为全球约 20%的红树林（260 万公顷）提供保护。在这些可投资区域中，根据 5-94 美元/吨二氧化碳当量的碳价，有 110-130 万公顷在 30 年的时间内可以实现财务可持续性。这将每年贡献高达 2980 万吨二氧化碳当量，并带来每年约 37 亿美元的投资回报。我们的研究结果表明，蓝碳融资具有不成比例的巨大潜力，可以用来实现国家层面的气候缓解目标，特别是如果将其与其他进一步保护这些不可替代森林的碳储量和生物多样性的保护干预措施相结合。对投资回报的稳健信息强调了目前未充分利用的热带沿海碳信用项目的潜力。
