With a 3,260-km coastline, Vietnam supports diverse blue carbon ecosystems, including mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and tidal marshes. These ecosystems play an important role in climate change mitigation while sustaining coastal biodiversity, fisheries, and other ecosystem services. Current inventories estimate that Vietnam's mangrove forests cover approximately 147,300 ha with a total carbon stock of 80.8 MtCO₂e (IFEE, 2023), while seagrass meadows occupy approximately 21,885 ha with a total carbon stock of 3.22 MtCO₂e (Luong, 2026). In contrast, baseline information on the distribution, carbon stocks, and ecological functions of tidal marshes remains limited, highlighting a major knowledge gap in Vietnam's blue carbon inventory. As nature-based solutions, these ecosystems have considerable potential to contribute to Vietnam's Net Zero 2050 commitment while enhancing biodiversity conservation and ecosystem resilience.

Despite their ecological and climate significance, blue carbon research and implementation remain at an early stage in Vietnam, resulting in important scientific and policy gaps, particularly in standardized Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems. Vietnam has recently issued its first national technical handbook for mangrove carbon accounting, providing an important foundation for standardized MRV. However, comparable technical guidance and regulatory frameworks for seagrass meadows and tidal marshes remain lacking. Consequently, these ecosystems remain underrepresented in national carbon accounting, conservation planning, and emerging carbon finance mechanisms.

This presentation provides a state-of-the-art overview of blue carbon research, policy development, and conservation initiatives in Vietnam. It highlights recent institutional progress, particularly the establishment of the National Blue Carbon Action Partnership (NBCAP), which aims to strengthen collaboration among government agencies, research institutions, development partners, civil society, and the private sector to advance blue carbon conservation and restoration. The presentation also introduces ongoing initiatives supported by UNDP and WWF that are developing baseline datasets and ecosystem-specific methodologies for mangrove and seagrass carbon accounting while incorporating biodiversity co-benefits into blue carbon assessments.

Vietnam provides an emerging case study of how scientific evidence can inform national blue carbon governance. Strengthening interdisciplinary research, expanding standardized MRV frameworks across all blue carbon ecosystems, improving national baseline datasets, and integrating biodiversity co-benefits into climate policy will be essential for fully realizing the potential of blue carbon ecosystems in supporting Vietnam's climate commitments, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable coastal development.
Keywords: Blue Carbon; Mangroves; Seagrass Meadows; Tidal Marshes; NBCAP; Climate Policy, Biodiversity; Viet Nam