Fig. 1: The blue carbon development index (BCDI) framework comprises three subsystems: driving force, resource endowment, and development capacity.

Driving force subsystem describes drivers consisting of natural and anthropogenic elements that have positive or negative impacts^82,83 on climate change mitigation, including carbon emissions, population, and climate change security; Resource endowment describes the ecological and environmental status of blue carbon ecosystems, covering the distribution of ecosystems (mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass beds), ecosystem health, and carbon sequestration; Development capacity represents the capacity of socioeconomic interventions such as governance, financial instruments, oceanic technology, and marine protection management to support blue carbon development.