Coastal wetlands can play an effective role in climate change adaptation and mitigation, by protecting shorelines and material assets from flooding and storm damage and trapping and storing CO₂ from the atmosphere. They have been subject to high levels of historic modification through drainage and land-use change, which likely contributed to past CO₂ emissions but now represents an opportunity to sequester CO₂ and regain these long-term carbon stores through activities such as rewetting.

At present, the UK has very limited evidence of emissions from coastal wetlands, anthropogenic activity data, and evidence of habitat change. As a result, there are multiple evidence gaps which must be filled before inclusion of coastal wetlands in the UK Greenhouse gas inventory (GHGI) can be considered. Inclusion of a new habitat in the UK GHGI involves a procedure of rigorous and comprehensive data acquisition; documentation; recommendation for implementation from the National Inventory Steering Committee that governs the UK GHGI.

A report prepared by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, identifies the challenges, and makes recommendations on next step. Click here.