Press Release: The Mangrove Breakthrough is Mobilizing Global Leadership and Large-Scale Finance
11 Nov. 2025 - The Mangrove Breakthrough hosted its flagship Ministerial Event at COP30, highlighting leaders across governments, businesses, and civil society who are placing mangroves at the heart of their actions to build resilient communities and economies. The event also marked a significant step forward for the Breakthrough’s progress in deploying the instruments necessary to scale up mangrove-positive investments.
Remarkable advancements toward the Mangrove Breakthrough 2030 targets are underway. The Mangrove Breakthrough has tracked more than 40 large operations (over USD 1 million) that have mobilized over USD 750 million in mangrove-positive investments since 2020. And the landscape continues to expand. Our partners at Capital for Climate have tracked over USD 840 million in nature-positive investments through 56 projects that include mangrove ecosystems.
Together, the 44 governments that have endorsed the Mangrove Breakthrough represent approximately 40% of the world’s total mangrove coverage — a remarkable testament to growing global leadership and collaboration. Several of these countries — including Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Australia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Pakistan — have set ambitious targets in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. For example, Jamaica’s NDC 3.0 aims to protect about two-thirds of the island’s mangrove forests by 2033 and restore 7,000 hectares by 2027.
“These bold commitments reflect years of dedicated engagement with governments around the world, and the tireless efforts of the Mangrove Breakthrough’s NDC Task Force,” said Carlos Eduardo Correa Escaf, Global Ambassador for the Breakthrough and former Minister of Environment of Colombia. “With COP30 marking the third anniversary of the Mangrove Breakthrough, now is the time to turn ambition into action — and tangible results are already emerging. These strengthened NDCs mark a true turning point for the initiative.”
Papua New Guinea, the 40th government to endorse the Mangrove Breakthrough and co-host of today’s event, launched its Blue Carbon Policy Roadmap — a guiding framework to strengthen the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of blue carbon ecosystems.
“The launch of Papua New Guinea’s Blue Carbon Policy Roadmap reaffirms our commitment to protecting the blue carbon ecosystems that sustain our people and economy. This roadmap positions Papua New Guinea as a regional leader in harnessing nature for climate and community resilience,” said Minister for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change Hon. Simo Kilepa.
Introducing the Mangrove Catalytic Facility
To bridge critical financing gaps and enable systemic transformation, the Mangrove Breakthrough is building a comprehensive financial architecture designed to unlock investment for mangrove-positive actions and businesses. This includes the Mangrove Catalytic Facility (MCF), which serves as the Breakthrough’s engine for investment readiness.
The MCF supports actors across the value chain in developing investable solutions for mangrove ecosystems, from small and medium enterprises to financial institutions and national governments. The MCF is set to radically transform how mangroves are financed by mobilizing the expertise and capital of financial institutions and corporations. Ultimately, the objective is for mangrove value to be integrated into investment decisions for mangrove-adjacent businesses (infrastructure, ports, coastal agriculture, aquaculture, etc.).
“The Mangrove Catalytic Facility has the potential to be a turning point in how mangroves are valued and financed,” said Ignace Beguin Billecocq, Executive Director of the Mangrove Breakthrough. “By strengthening the capacity of financial institutions and policymakers, and developing a global mangrove monitoring platform, the Mangrove Breakthrough is paving the way for mangroves to become indispensable to building resilient communities and economies.”
With a USD 80 million fundraising target, the Facility is designed to multiply the impact of every dollar invested in mangroves, serving as a catalytic structure for achieving the overarching goal of mobilizing USD 4 billion for mangrove ecosystems.
Building a Global Pipeline
The Mangrove Breakthrough is working with its partners to build a global pipeline across key areas — from technology and finance to on-the-ground implementation.
The Breakthrough is partnering with Restor to launch the most comprehensive mapping and monitoring platform that centralizes geospatial data, project performance, and investment needs, helping connect verified projects with philanthropic, public, and private sources of capital. The use of AI-powered models will accelerate implementation by supporting, at speed and scale, local financial institutions, governments, and project developers to make science-based decisions in coastal areas, allowing us to efficiently track progress toward the 2030 Mangrove Breakthrough target.
The Breakthrough has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with investment‐management firm Regia Capital to advance investment in nature-based solutions in Brazil. This agreement paves the way for collaboration on impact funds focusing on mangroves as a key nature-based solution for resilient coastal communities.
Furthermore, as part of the Mangrove Breakthrough, the Global Mangrove Alliance )GMA) has released three Regional Readiness Reports—for Asia, the Americas, and West Africa—identifying the most effective pathways to accelerate mangrove action and guide alignment among funders, governments, and NGOs. Targeted propositions for Mexico, Guinea-Bissau, and Indonesia outline opportunities to mobilize concessional capital.
“The GMA is proving that collaboration works,” said Emily Landis, The Nature Conservancy’s Global Climate and Ocean Director and Member of the GMA Steering Committee. “By bringing together governments, scientists, practitioners and local leaders we’re turning shared goals into coordinated action, accelerating mangrove conservation and restoration from West Africa to Southeast Asia and the Americas.”
Initiatives like those in Brazil are already demonstrating tangible progress toward protecting and restoring 15 million hectares of mangroves worldwide.
On Marajó Island, in the state of Pará, Brazil, the community associations ACCS and ASSUREMAS are leading the development of a nature-positive, community-managed crab processing and distribution cooperative within the Marine Extractive Reserve (RESEX) — a federally protected area spanning over 7,400 hectares of mangroves. As a member of the Global Mangrove Alliance, Rare is supporting these local organizations in strengthening governance, market access, and sustainable management practices.
Casa do Ucides, named after the mangrove crab (Ucides cordatus), is building a sustainable value chain for one of the Amazon Coast’s most emblematic species. With support from Rare and in collaboration with local partners, the initiative has already mobilized over 100 crab extractivists for training. Participation in this cooperative is contingent on sustainable harvesting practices, embedding mangrove conservation directly within the local economy.
About the Mangrove Breakthrough
The Mangrove Breakthrough is pioneering how we, as a global network, protect nature to build resilient communities. It is a global movement to value, finance, and safeguard mangroves. The ambition is to mobilize USD 4 billion to protect and restore 15 million hectares of mangroves by 2030, fostering radical collaboration, advancing science-based financial and regulatory decisions, and investing in local leadership.
The Breakthrough’s Secretariat (“the Hub”) drives this mission by sustaining multistakeholder partnerships and building the infrastructure for lasting impact. The Hub is legally hosted at the Chilean NGO Ambition Loop.
