PHL blue carbon framework aligns with regional climate standards

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

The Philippines’ updated National Blue Carbon Action Partnership (NBCAP) framework is moving in step with regional peers Indonesia and Vietnam, as all three countries align their blue carbon strategies with international climate standards under the United Nations climate regime and emerging carbon market rules.

The Philippine NBCAP, presented during a learning exchange visit in Iloilo City on Wednesday, outlines a whole-of-society roadmap to integrate mangroves, seagrasses and coastal ecosystems into national climate and development policy.

The roadmap builds on the Philippines’ commitment under the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Article 4 of the agreement requires countries to submit and periodically enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), while Article 13 requires an accounting for greenhouse gas emissions and removals using robust monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems.

The NDCs under the Paris Agreement refer to state parties’ post-2020 climate actions and are described on the UNFCCC’s website as “embody[ing] efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.”

Blue carbon refers to carbon captured and stored by the world’s oceanic and coastal ecosystems, primarily mangroves, seagrasses and tidal marshes. These ecosystems can sequester carbon at rates significantly higher than terrestrial forests, making them critical components of global climate mitigation strategies.

Philippines: NDC integration and carbon accounting

Under its “Ways Forward,” the Philippine NBCAP explicitly calls for integrating blue carbon into the country’s NDC, securing tenure and legal clarity, prioritizing high-conservation areas and strengthening capacity building.

The Philippine roadmap also includes the development of a Blue Carbon Quantification Protocol to standardize carbon measurement methods, with pilot testing both within and outside National Integrated Protected Areas System marine protected areas.

This aligns with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidance, particularly the 2013 Wetlands Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, which provides methodologies for estimating emissions and removals from mangroves and other coastal wetlands.

The Philippines is also pursuing designation of a national authority for carbon markets and drafting guidelines for carbon credit projects and a national carbon trading roadmap, consistent with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which governs cooperative approaches and carbon markets.

Institutionally, the Philippine NBCAP is chaired by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, with the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources as co-chair, and supported by a multisector Leadership Steering Committee and technical working groups.

Indonesia: Formalized national action plan and financing strategy

Indonesia’s NBCAP update shows a more formalized national action plan, known as RENAKSI, for 2025–2030, structured around five strategic pillars and 21 action plans.

One pillar focuses on preparing modalities for integrating blue carbon into Indonesia’s NDC, including development of marine-sector greenhouse gas inventory guidelines, ecosystem-specific emission factors and reference emission levels for seagrass.

Indonesia has also issued Presidential Regulation No. 110/2025 on Carbon Economic Value Instruments and Government Regulation No. 27/2025 on Mangrove Protection and Management, providing a clearer legal basis for carbon pricing and ecosystem governance.

Its national plan details an estimated total investment requirement of USD 460 million from 2025 to 2030, with a tiered financing strategy combining state budgets, ecological fiscal transfers, voluntary carbon markets, blue bonds and innovative instruments such as blue carbon insurance and mangrove sukuk.

Indonesia’s approach references active engagement in multilateral agreements, including the UNFCCC, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar Convention, aligning its blue carbon strategy with global biodiversity and wetland conservation frameworks.

Vietnam: MRV system and legal roadmap

Vietnam’s NBCAP update highlights its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions and strengthening its NDC, while establishing an international-standard MRV system for marine ecosystems.

Vietnam reports 190,385 hectares of blue carbon ecosystems, with an estimated 58.88 million tonnes of carbon stock and annual sequestration of about 2.59 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Its strategic priorities include developing regulations on carbon credit ownership and revenue sharing, building a comprehensive geographic information system database of carbon stocks, and connecting domestic projects to voluntary and international carbon markets.

The legal basis for Vietnam’s NBCAP includes a Letter of Intent between its Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the World Economic Forum, as well as alignment with Vietnam’s NDC and national blue economy strategy under Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW.

Alignment with international standards

All three countries’ NBCAP updates reflect key elements required under the Paris Agreement: integration into NDCs, establishment of MRV systems and exploration of Article 6 carbon market mechanisms.

Indonesia and Vietnam have explicitly embedded blue carbon accounting into national greenhouse gas inventory systems and reference emission levels, closely following IPCC methodological guidance.

The Philippines, while still finalizing its roadmap, is piloting standardized quantification protocols and moving toward carbon market governance structures.