24 September 2025, New York City The Coral Reef and Mangrove Breakthroughs teamed up for a high-level roundtable during New York Climate Week, convening leading voices and partners committed to a shared vision for the worlds coastal ecosystems.
Coral reef and mangrove ecosystems share a common destiny, and neither Breakthrough can succeed independently, said Carlos Eduardo Correa Escaf, former Minister of Environment of Colombia and Global Ambassador of the Mangrove Breakthrough, who delivered the opening remarks. By safeguarding these ecosystems together, we can build the foundations of a truly nature-positive future.
The event was rooted in the common understanding that these two ecosystems are both ecologically and functionally connected. Coral reefs buffer wave energy and nurture biodiversity offshore, while mangroves stabilize coastlines, provide habitat for fish and birds, and capture and store carbon nearshore.
The roundtable, held ahead of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) September deadline and the upcoming UNFCCC COP30, focused on turning climate ambition into action. It brought together global leaders to highlight NDCs with specific targets for mangrove and coral ecosystems and attract vital support for implementation.
The conversation featured leading voices in mangrove and coral reef conservation and restoration, alongside key representatives from the incoming COP Presidency, including Special Envoy for Oceans Marinez Scherer, ASG and Head of New York Office, UN Environment Programme Ligia Noronha, and High-Level Climate Champion Dan Ioschpe. Panelists also shared best practices for raising ambition, emphasized the value of cross-sector collaboration, and outlined pathways to scale up impact.
UNEP, UNDP, and UNCDF through the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) are demonstrating how blended finance can de-risk investment and scale reef-positive solutions, said Noronha. By harnessing the complementary expertise of these UN partners and their networks, cross-sector collaboration can move us from fragmented projects to systemic, scaled impact for people and planet.
Coastal countries can use their NDCs to include targets for protecting and restoring marine ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs. Doing so benefits both people and nature. When governments include these ecosystems in their NDCs, they show investors and partners they are serious about action, helping to attract vital support for implementation.
Several countries have already updated their NDCs to include mangroves and coral reefs. For example, Kenyas NDC, submitted in April 2025, aims to strengthen investments in vulnerable ecosystems, including mangroves. Belizes NDC, submitted in June 2025, sets out actions for both mangroves and coral reefs, including a National Sectoral Adaptation Plan for coral reefs by 2026, with implementation targeted by 2035.
"The Coral Reef and Mangrove Breakthroughs show what is possible when we align finance, innovation, and local leadership, said Ioschpe.
Coral reefs buffer wave energy and nurture biodiversity offshore, while mangroves stabilize coastlines and capture and store carbon nearshore. Together, they serve as the foundation of resilient seascapes and support more than a billion people through food supply, livelihoods, and coastal protection. This type of collaboration among existing initiatives is at the heart of the Action Agenda Brazil is setting up towards Belm. We need to take the solutions that already exist to scale them up, ensuring they can reach the impact the world urgently needs."
The event formed part of a series of activities and announcements for the Mangrove Breakthrough during New York Climate Week. Highlights included the launch of Regional Readiness Reports for Asia, the Americas, and West Africa; a financial roundtable as part of a six-month investor roadshow; a public event advancing the Mangrove Breakthrough Agenda; and a special session on the role of philanthropy in mobilizing the initiative.
About the Coral Reef Breakthrough
The Coral Reef Breakthrough aims to secure the future of at least 125,000 km2 of shallow-water tropical coral reefs with investments of at least US$12 billion to support the resilience of more than half a billion people globally by 2030. This will be achieved through the implementation of four global action points that align with, and transcend, the targets set forth in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF):
1. Stop all drivers of loss: Mitigate local drivers of loss, including land-based sources of pollution, destructive coastal development, and overfishing.
2. Double the area of coral reefs under effective protection: Bolster resilience-based coral reef conservation efforts by aligning with and transcending global coastal protection targets, including 30 by 30.
3. Accelerate restoration: Assist the development and implementation of innovative solutions at scale and climate-smart designs that support coral adaptation to impact 30% of degraded reefs by 2030.
4. Secure investments of at least US$12 billion by 2030 from public and private sources to conserve and restore these crucial ecosystems.
Launched at the 37th International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) General Meeting in 2023, the breakthrough was developed in collaboration with the UN Climate Change High-level Champions (HLCC), ICRI, and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) with support from the Government of Sweden and the Principality of Monaco, and unites the community under global targets for coral reef ecosystems.
About the Mangrove Breakthrough
The Mangrove Breakthrough is a global movement to reshape how mangroves are valued, financed, and protected. It brings together governments, investors, civil society, and local communities to drive system-wide change by mobilizing $4 billion to secure the future of over 15 million hectares of mangroves by 2030. This isnt just a conservation effort its a blueprint for how nature can be integrated into global economic and climate systems.
The Breakthrough was launched at COP27 and brought together governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), researchers, and financiers to mobilize collectively around four actions, building off the guiding principles developed by the Global Mangrove Alliance.
1. Reduce net mangrove losses driven by humans to 0
2. Ensure long-term protection for 80% of remaining mangroves
3. Restore mangroves to cover at least half of all recent loss
4. Drive sustainable finance to existing mangrove extent
The Mangrove Breakthrough has a specific policy workstream that provides technical NDC policy guidance. The NDC Task Force provides policy, data, and knowledge-sharing guidance to help transform countries mangrove ambition into policy action, helping them to contribute their part in achieving the Mangrove Breakthrough targets.
