Investing in Mangroves 2025

Executive summary Scientists predict that, by 2050, the climate crisis will reduce global GDP by approximately 19% and average agricultural yields by 30%, while the biodiversity crisis puts 55% of global GDP (worth about $58 trillion) at risk. These crises will have profound impacts on corporations. Yet while 79% of companies have set climate-related targets, just 26% report on nature-related indicators. There is a growing consensus that companies can only achieve their net-zero goals through nature-positive action. Consequently, action on nature is likely to have nearly as big an influence on corporate strategy and governance as climate action. Many of the global challenges facing sustainable development, biodiversity and climate can benefit from solutions designed to address these crises holistically. One-third of the planet’s population (2.75 billion) lives within 100 kilometres of the coast and many of these people are among the most vulnerable in the world. Meanwhile, deteriorating coastal ecosystems threaten local livelihoods, food security, access to resources, land tenure and fishing rights. Mangrove conservation and restoration provide a significant opportunity to address these intertwined social and ecological crises, delivering core benefits to people, climate and nature. Blue carbon ecosystems – comprising mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses – store three to five times more carbon per hectare than terrestrial forests; while 151 countries contain at least one of these blue carbon ecosystems, 71 countries contain all three. The conservation and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems also provide huge potential benefits to local communities. The combination of benefits that these ecosystems offer to people and nature represent a significant opportunity to address the climate and nature crises in a socially and ecologically integrated way. Yet despite their multitude of benefits, mangroves are among the planet’s most threatened ecosystems, with half the estimated 147,000 km2 of mangroves at risk. Mangrove conservation and restoration efforts have been growing, but to achieve scale, project economics need to be clarified, land tenure issues addressed and the complexity of coastal areas navigated. Stakeholder coordination should focus on a shared vision, aligning investors’ expectations with local needs and leveraging expertise to mitigate reputational risk.As a nexus solution, mangroves are uniquely positioned to respond to the interconnected challenges of the climate crisis, nature loss and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As an investment, mangrove-positive action provides companies the opportunity to achieve their net- zero, nature-positive and SDG targets, while generating commercial value. Mangroves offer outstanding value beyond a corporation’s balance sheet – for example, they can reinforce operations through cost savings, adaptation and resilience benefits, while generating stackable carbon and biodiversity credits. Companies interested in investing in mangroves can explore Four Avenues or entry points: (1) Sustainability credit buying, (2) Supply chain offtaking, (3) Project development and (4) Ancillary engagement (see Figure 4). To ensure successful mangrove-positive investment, companies should leverage principles such as the High-Quality Blue Carbon Principles and Guidance and accompanying Practitioners Guide 2024, developed by the World Economic Forum and its partners. Additional principles for companies looking to invest in mangroves include the following: –Successful project-level engagement places people at the core. –Multi-stakeholder collaboration unlocks more and better engagement opportunities. –Sustainable mangrove investments ensure local communities are incentivized. –Jurisdictional and landscape approaches maximize the value of interventions. –Corporate coalitions improve market access to viable mangrove-positive investments. While a myriad of actors is needed to scale-up mangrove conservation and restoration globally, the private sector can play a crucial role by leveraging its operational and technical capacities. In doing so, companies will support global goals that benefit both their strategic values and the global community.Pressure on corporations to act for people, nature and climate is mounting. Mangroves offer powerful nature-based solutions while delivering economic gains. What is important now is the “how”. Investing in Mangroves: The Corporate Playbook 5