Report on the Role of Coastal Ecosystems in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

Executive Summary

Coastal habitats, including salt marshes and seagrass meadows, represent a critical nature-based solution for climate change mitigation and contribute significantly to multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These ecosystems, known for their “blue carbon” sequestration capabilities, offer benefits that extend beyond carbon storage to include community resilience, biodiversity protection, and economic support. New scientific research into lateral carbon flux indicates that the climate-regulating services of these habitats have been substantially underestimated. This report outlines the multifaceted contributions of coastal ecosystems to the global sustainability agenda, with a specific focus on upcoming research in North Carolina to quantify these impacts.

Contribution to SDG 13: Climate Action

Blue Carbon Sequestration

Coastal ecosystems are highly effective at capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide, directly addressing the targets of SDG 13. Their contribution includes:

• Long-Term Carbon Storage: Through photosynthesis, marsh grasses and seagrasses absorb CO2, burying a significant portion in anoxic soils where it can remain sequestered for centuries or millennia.
• Superior Sequestration Efficiency: On a per-acre basis, coastal wetlands can store several times more carbon than terrestrial forests, making their conservation and restoration a highly efficient climate mitigation strategy.

Advanced Understanding: Lateral Carbon Flux

Recent scientific findings reveal that the climate benefits of these ecosystems are not limited to soil sequestration. The concept of lateral flux—the exchange of carbon with surrounding waters—demonstrates an additional, significant contribution to climate regulation.

1. Export of Beneficial Carbon: Coastal habitats export forms of carbon that enhance storage in seawater and reduce greenhouse gases in the water column.
2. Re-evaluation of Climate Value: Preliminary estimates suggest that the climate benefit from lateral flux may be equal to or greater than that of direct soil storage, indicating that the overall value of these habitats in achieving SDG 13 has been historically undervalued.

Synergistic Impacts on Additional Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 14: Life Below Water and SDG 15: Life on Land

The health of coastal ecosystems is intrinsically linked to biodiversity. Protecting these habitats is a direct investment in achieving goals for marine and terrestrial life.

• They serve as vital nurseries for countless marine species, supporting the health of commercial and recreational fisheries (SDG 14).
• They provide essential havens and feeding grounds for terrestrial and avian wildlife (SDG 15).

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 6: Clean Water

Coastal habitats provide essential ecosystem services that enhance the resilience and sustainability of human settlements.

• Coastal Resilience: Salt marshes and seagrass beds act as natural buffers, absorbing wave energy and reducing the impact of storms and sea-level rise on coastal communities (SDG 11).
• Water Purification: These ecosystems filter pollutants and excess nutrients from runoff, improving coastal water quality (SDG 6).

A Call to Action: Policy and Research Integration

North Carolina Research Initiative

A forthcoming research project in North Carolina, supported by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, aims to provide critical data on the carbon services of the state’s salt marshes. This initiative exemplifies SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by uniting scientific research and environmental organizations to inform evidence-based policy. The data will empower policymakers and local communities to make strategic investments in habitat protection and restoration.

Recommendations

To leverage the full potential of coastal ecosystems in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals, the following actions are recommended:

1. Invest in Protection and Restoration: Prioritize the conservation of existing coastal habitats and the restoration of degraded areas as a cost-effective strategy for climate mitigation and adaptation.
2. Integrate Blue Carbon into Climate Policy: Incorporate the scientifically validated carbon sequestration values of coastal ecosystems into national and regional climate action plans.
3. Support Continued Research: Fund further scientific inquiry into lateral flux and other ecosystem services to ensure policies are based on the most comprehensive understanding of their value.

Protecting and restoring coastal habitats is a win-win strategy that simultaneously advances climate action, protects biodiversity, and builds resilient communities, making it an indispensable component of the global effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

1. SDGs Addressed in the Article

SDG 13: Climate Action

• The article’s primary focus is on mitigating climate change. It describes coastal habitats like salt marshes and seagrass meadows as a “powerful tool” for “fighting climate change” by acting as “massive storehouses for carbon, helping slow the pace of global warming.” This directly addresses the core objective of SDG 13.

SDG 14: Life Below Water

• The article centers on the health and protection of marine and coastal ecosystems, specifically “salt marshes and submerged seagrass meadows.” It highlights their role as “fish nurseries” and supports their protection and restoration, which is a central theme of SDG 14.

SDG 15: Life on Land

• Coastal wetlands like salt marshes are ecosystems at the interface of land and sea. The article’s call to “Protecting and restoring degraded marshes” and its recognition of them as “wildlife havens” aligns with SDG 15’s goal of protecting and restoring terrestrial and wetland ecosystems.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• The article points out that coastal habitats serve as “storm buffers” that give “coastal communities and working lands a fighting chance against rising seas and extreme storms.” This connects to SDG 11’s aim of making human settlements resilient to climate-related disasters.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

• The article mentions a specific collaboration: “With support from the North Carolina Coastal Federation, my team and I will be monitoring marshes in the state.” This partnership between a research team and a civil society organization to generate scientific data for policy-making exemplifies the multi-stakeholder collaborations promoted by SDG 17.

2. Specific Targets Identified

Targets under SDG 13: Climate Action

• Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. The article supports this by aiming to provide scientific data to “give policymakers, landowners, and communities the science they need to make smart investments in protecting and restoring” coastal habitats, framing this as “smart climate policy.”

Targets under SDG 14: Life Below Water

• Target 14.2: Sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts… and take action for their restoration. The article’s central “Call to Action” is to “Protecting and restoring degraded marshes and seagrass meadows,” which directly reflects the language and intent of this target.

Targets under SDG 15: Life on Land

• Target 15.1: Ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular…wetlands. The article is entirely focused on the services provided by coastal wetlands (carbon storage, storm buffering) and advocates for their protection and restoration.
• Target 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity. The article warns that “Every acre we lose is a lost opportunity” and describes these habitats as “wildlife havens,” underscoring the urgency of halting their degradation.

Targets under SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• Target 11.5: Significantly reduce…the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters…with a focus on protecting…people in vulnerable situations. By describing coastal habitats as “storm buffers” that protect communities from “rising seas and extreme storms,” the article highlights a nature-based solution to reduce disaster impacts, which is the goal of this target.

3. Indicators Mentioned or Implied

Indicators for Climate Mitigation and Ecosystem Health (SDGs 13, 14, 15)

• Quantity of carbon stored and exported by coastal ecosystems: The article explicitly states that the research in North Carolina will “measure their carbon values” and determine “just how much carbon is being stored and exported.” This provides a direct, measurable indicator of the ecosystems’ climate mitigation service.
• Area of protected and restored coastal habitats: The call to action to protect and restore “every acre” implies that progress can be measured by the total area (in acres or hectares) of salt marshes and seagrass meadows that are conserved or brought back to health.

Indicator for Community Resilience (SDG 11)

• Effectiveness of natural habitats in disaster risk reduction: While not providing a specific metric, the article implies an indicator related to the value of protection services. The statement that these habitats “buffer shorelines from storms” suggests that their effectiveness could be measured by the reduction in shoreline erosion or the value of property damage avoided during storm events.

Indicator for Partnerships (SDG 17)

• Existence of multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development: The article provides a concrete example of such a partnership between the researcher’s team and the North Carolina Coastal Federation. The existence and number of such collaborations can serve as an indicator of progress toward this goal.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: coastalreview.org