Blue Carbon Management and Carbon Credit Markets: A Review of Ecological, Technological, and Digital Frameworks

Blue carbon ecosystems, including mangroves, sea-grasses, and macroalgae, are critical for climate change mitigation due to their exceptional carbon sequestration and storage capacities. Recent advances in remote sensing, machine learning, and blockchain technologies have enabled more accurate carbon accounting, scalable monitoring, and transparent carbon trading mechanisms. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of blue carbon research, focusing on ecosystem carbon pools— aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, and soil organic carbon—and their integration into carbon markets. We review methodologies for carbon quantification, including remote sensing-based assessments, predictive machine learning models, and digital measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems. The paper also examines blockchain applications for carbon credit verification and market transparency, highlighting both potential and challenges. A comparative analysis of recent studies is presented in terms of methodology, spatial scale, data requirements, accuracy, and limitations. The survey identifies key research gaps, including standardization of carbon accounting, regional scalability of models, and adoption barriers for digital MRV and blockchain platforms. This work provides a holistic perspective on the current state of blue carbon science and technology, offering guidance for researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders to enhance ecosystem-based climate mitigation strategies.