India Joins Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) at COP27

India joined the Mangrove Alliance For Climate (MAC) at the ongoing 27th Summit of the Conference of Parties (COP27) at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

Calling for integration of mangroves conservation with the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programmes for carbon sequestering, India joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC).

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What is Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC):

The Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) is an intergovernmental alliance that seeks to expand and hasten the progress towards the conservation and restoration of mangrove ecosystems. Its members include the UAE, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan, and Spain.

The alliance will raise global awareness about the role of mangroves as a nature-based climate change solution. It will ensure the rehabilitation of mangrove forests at the global level.

MAC & India:

India is among the first five countries to join the MAC, at the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The others are Australia, Japan, Spain, and Sri Lanka.

The move is in line with India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5- 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

Importance of mangroves:

Mangrove ecosystems are among the most productive and ecologically important ecosystems in the world. They provide significant climate change mitigation and adaptation co-benefits since they are capable of storing carbon up to 400 per cent faster than land-based tropical rainforests. They protect coastal regions from rising sea levels, erosion and storm surges. They provide breeding grounds for marine biodiversity. Around 80 per cent of the global fish population rely on these ecosystems for their survival.

About REDD+:

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is a mechanism developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2005.
Most of the key REDD+ decisions were completed by 2013, with the final pieces of the rulebook finished in 2015.
The “Plus” in REDD+, lays out the various ways in which countries have defined the three activities: conservation, the sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stock.
It aims to achieve climate change mitigation by incentivizing forest conservation.