As the impacts of climate change intensify, the global spotlight is turning toward blue carbon ecosystems — mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes, and coastal wetlands — as high-impact, nature-based climate solutions.
These ecosystems are not only exceptional in their carbon storage capacity, but also offer multiple co-benefits including coastal protection, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods. For a country like India, with a 7,500-kilometre coastline and over 4,992 sq km of mangrove cover, blue carbon represents a strategic opportunity to simultaneously advance its climate goals, protect vulnerable coastal communities, and unlock substantial climate finance through carbon markets. Blue carbon finance enables investments in ecosystem restoration that generate Verified Emission Reductions (VERs), which can be traded on international platforms to fund conservation efforts and community-based adaptation initiatives.
India’s blue carbon ecosystems are remarkably diverse and widespread, including not only mangroves but also seagrass meadows, salt marshes, peatlands, lagoons, and estuarine wetlands. These ecosystems store carbon in both biomass and sediment, with mangroves and seagrasses capable of sequestering carbon at rates several times higher than terrestrial forests. While mangroves have received attention in conservation policy, seagrasses — found in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Lakshadweep, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands — and other wetlands remain underrepresented in India’s carbon finance strategy, despite their vast potential for long-term carbon storage. Salt marshes and peat-rich wetlands, particularly in estuarine and deltaic regions, hold significant carbon in waterlogged soils and play critical roles in climate regulation and water purification. These ecosystems, when conserved or restored, offer pathways for both carbon avoidance (preventing emissions from degradation or conversion) and carbon removal (sequestering additional carbon through active restoration).
A similar initiative is underway in Bharuch, Gujarat, where mangroves are being planted on previously barren mudflats with the support of community-based organisations. Blue carbon finance provides a critical link between ecological restoration and sustainable livelihoods. Through the generation and sale of carbon credits, communities gain direct financial benefits from restoration activities. These credits represent either avoided emissions (from conserving intact wetlands or mangroves that would otherwise degrade) or sequestered carbon (from planting new vegetation in degraded areas).
The monetisation of carbon credits offers an economic rationale for conservation, channelling funds to community-led nursery development, plantation work, monitoring, and sustainable resource use. In ongoing projects, co-benefits include reducing dependence on fuelwood, checking forest fires, and ensuring sustainable harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs). Moreover, by integrating agroforestry models and plantation activities on both forest and farmer lands, such initiatives improve rural resilience while restoring ecological integrity. The premium value of blue carbon credits in voluntary carbon markets — due to their permanence, high additionality, and ecosystem co-benefits — makes these projects attractive to private investors and international buyers seeking high-quality offsets. India can harness this momentum to channel international climate finance toward large-scale coastal ecosystem restoration while simultaneously improving livelihoods, food security, and disaster preparedness in its most climate-vulnerable districts. To fully unlock India’s blue carbon potential, a focused, multi-pronged strategy is essential — linking science, policy, markets, and community engagement. A National Blue Carbon Strategy should integrate these ecosystems into India’s climate and coastal management frameworks, including SAPCCs and the NAFCC.
Expansion beyond mangroves to include seagrasses, salt marshes, peatlands, and wetlands will broaden the scope for high-integrity carbon credits. Dedicated efforts are needed to map and monitor seagrass using satellite data, drone surveys, and underwater imagery, particularly in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, and Lakshadweep. Scientific precision — through high-resolution mapping, biomass and soil carbon measurement, and AI-based modelling — will ensure credible verification. Building institutional and community capacity is vital for project sustainability, along with embedding equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms.
A Global Leadership Opportunity India stands at the threshold of a unique opportunity to lead the global blue carbon movement. With a rich variety of coastal and wetland ecosystems, proven institutional capability, and an emerging carbon market, the country can demonstrate how climate finance and nature-based solutions can go hand-in-hand to address climate change and social vulnerability.
India can achieve triple wins — enhanced carbon sequestration, strengthened biodiversity, and improved community resilience. As international demand grows for high-integrity, co-benefit-rich carbon credits, India’s strategic positioning and early action can establish it as a frontrunner in blue carbon innovation, ensuring that its coastal landscapes are not only protected but also valued as global climate assets.
(The writer is Associate Fellow, Land Resources, TERI. Views expressed are personal)
