Towards comprehensive blue carbon accounting in Vietnam

Key messages

• The Government of Vietnam pays great attention to protecting mangrove ecosystems as they play a vital role in climate change mitigation. In 2024, the government issued Technical Guidelines for Biomass and Carbon Stock Estimation of Mangrove Forests (Decision No. 316/QD-LN-SXLN). These Guidelines aim to standardize estimates for biomass and carbon stock, and increase carbon storage from their restoration. This brief looks at required improvements to the Guidelines to help Vietnam join the blue carbon market.
• Better estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from converted mangroves are needed to understand baseline emissions from anthropogenic disturbances in mangrove forests, as well as the impact of ending conversion of mangroves to other uses like aquaculture. To that end, better information on conversion and land-management practices is needed. This includes excavation depth for construction of aquaculture ponds and infrastructure development, nitrogen inputs for aquaculture production, and knowledge on crop types, drainage depth, and GHG budgets in mangroves converted to agriculture.
• More refined estimates of GHG emissions from converted mangroves can help shed light on baseline emissions from anthropogenic disturbances in mangrove forests, as well as the impact of ending conversion of mangroves to other uses like aquaculture.
• Strategic alignment with established blue carbon standards—such as the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Gold Standard (GS) Framework—would enable Vietnam to harness the full potential of its mangrove ecosystems for high-integrity blue carbon crediting.
• Integrating remote sensing and machine learning techniques with species-level classification data can significantly enhance the accuracy and robustness of blue carbon accounting in mangrove ecosystems.

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