Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration

Southeast Asia produces nearly one‑third of global land‑use‑change emissions, much of it from degraded peat‑swamp forests and mangroves. Using 2001–2022 data, this study estimates ~691.8 ± 97.2 Tg CO₂e yr⁻¹ emitted from land‑use change in these ecosystems—48% of the region’s total—while secondary regrowth removes only a small fraction. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam account for over 90% of emissions. Yet restoring degraded peatlands and mangroves could mitigate an additional 94.4 ± 7.4 Tg CO₂e yr⁻¹. Although they cover just 5.4% of Southeast Asia, protecting and restoring these carbon‑dense systems offers substantial climate‑mitigation benefits while supporting biodiversity, livelihoods and ecosystem services.