Presentation short abstract

This paper examines how coastal wetland science has been reshaped by policy and market demands for carbon data, revealing how information regimes privilege commodified carbon while marginalizing broader socioecological considerations.

Presentation long abstract

Blue carbon has mobilized scientific, policy, and conservation efforts to manage coastal wetlands as nature-based climate solutions. This paper examines how coastal wetland science has been reshaped through the informational demands of blue carbon policy and market pressures, arguing that these pressures constitute a powerful information regime that structures what kinds of knowledge are produced and valued. Using a mixed-methods analysis of coastal wetland research from 1970–2024 that combines publication trends, semantic analysis, and interviews with scientists, the paper shows both quantitative and qualitative shifts in knowledge production. Quantitatively, carbon-focused research has become increasingly central, rising sharply in the last five years. Qualitatively, scientific attention has narrowed toward soil carbon stocks, accumulation rates, and other metrics aligned with carbon-neutrality commitments and carbon credit methodologies. These shifts reflect a broader process of market legibility, in which coastal wetlands become governable primarily through standardized carbon data, revealing how scientific expertise contributes to making nature legible to capital in the green transition. Interviews highlight tensions between scientists, economists, and policymakers over socioecological priorities and epistemic assumptions. Although many scientists express skepticism toward carbon credits and market-oriented policy, they remain professionally committed to supplying the data needed to “improve” these instruments, further reifying them. By tracing how coastal wetland science has shifted alongside the rise of blue carbon, this paper illuminates how policy and market pressures shape environmental knowledge and raises broader questions about the role of science in contemporary green transitions.