World Wetlands Day 2nd February 2025

Phoebe Scott, Investment Associate at Climate Asset Management, takes a look at wetlands, their importance for life on earth, and the need for investment in wetland conservation and restoration.

“As the rowing boat glides quietly through the mangroves, I am amazed by the sheer tranquillity of the surrounding landscape, in contrast to the teeming vitality beneath the surface”

A recent trip to Mexico allowed me to witness the beauty of wetland environments up close, and the efforts of local communities to safeguard these valuable ecosystems.

On World Wetlands Day, it is a time to pause, reflect and acknowledge the importance of wetlands to the world we inhabit and the need to preserve them for future generations. Wetlands play a critical role in supporting biodiversity, regulating water cycles, and providing numerous benefits to human society.

Ecological significance

• Wetlands (in their many forms of mangroves, peatlands, rivers, lakes, deltas, seagrass meadows) provide a vibrant and vital habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna[1].
• They are actually home to around 40% of the world’s biodiversity and are totally relied upon by a large number of endangered species.[2]
• They have quite remarkable water filtration abilities, which reinforces their crucial role in water management and water security.[3]

Climate change mitigation and adaptation

• Blue carbon ecosystems possess and demonstrate outsized climate change mitigation potential when compared to terrestrial forests, with mangroves at 5:1 and seagrass at 3:1. [4]
• Wetlands also act as valuable natural buffer zones in their ability to absorb the impacts from natural climate events such as earthquakes, cyclones and storm surges.

Positive socioeconomic impacts

• Wetlands provide valuable sources of income and food security for local communities. Globally, it is reckoned that more than four million small-scale fishers are dependant upon mangroves.[5]
• Equally, wetland ecotourism can provide these communities with another sustainable stream of revenue.
• There are notable opportunities for sustainable fishery and / or ecotourism activities to be combined with wetland conservation and restoration; a win-win bothg for local communities and for nature.

Unfortunately, these ecosystems have been increasingly threatened due to climate change, increased urbanisation and deforestation stemming from demands of an ever-growing global population.

Since 1970, more than a third of the world’s wetlands has vanished.[6]  Invasive species, water pollution, and sediment build up, all pose a continuing threat to those remaining. [7]

Market based mechanisms such as the voluntary carbon market form important safeguarding structures, seeking to prevent further damage by shifting the balance of incentives from destruction to protection.

Conservation and restoration activities worldwide are both critical, particularly in the Global South, while more efforts are needed to scale up blue carbon financing across the public and private markets.   This will help ensure that these valuable habitats and the ecosystem services which they provide, including their critical sequestration abilities, are protected for decades to come.

Investing in wetlands

Climate Asset Management’s Nature Based Carbon Strategy is actively looking for scalable investment opportunities in blue carbon restoration and conservation in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Please reach out to me or our carbon team if you would like to connect and discuss.

You can contact us via email at NBCF@climateassetmanagement.com

We look forward to partnering with project developers that have a track record in this sector. If you have conducted a feasibility study for your project, we would love to hear from you.

(Photos are author’s own – from recent visits to wetland environments in Oaxaca, Mexico and Queensland, Australia.  Not captured are all the amazing sights and sounds of wildlife that call these places home! PS)

[1] & [3] What Are Wetlands? – Wetlands International Europe

[2] Revive and restore wetlands, home to 40 per cent of all biodiversity | UN News

[4] & [5] Unlocking Blue Carbon Development, World Bank Group, 2023

[6] Threats to wetlands – WWT;  What Are Wetlands? – Wetlands International Europe

[7] Wetlands Disappearing Three Times Faster than Forests | UNFCCC