The next blue-carbon agenda prioritizes coastal communities, equity and credible carbon accounting
Seven years after the previous global assessment, a new priority-setting exercise covered classical mangroves, marshes and seagrasses and expanded systems such as tidal flats, macroalgal forests and shelf sediments. The highest priority was management that supports coastal communities and integrates traditional ecological knowledge, treating legitimacy and equity as prerequisites for durable outcomes. Other priorities covered cost-effective restoration, greenhouse-gas flux accuracy, human impacts on carbon cycling, biodiversity and coastal-protection co-benefits, and remote sensing, ML and data sharing.