With nature high on the agenda and the public demanding transformative solutions, brace yourself for a supercharged climate week

"NbS advocates will need to consistently and tirelessly steer governments away from monoculture plantations for timber and biofuels, and promote species-rich ecosystems that sequester more carbon, reduce poverty, provide livelihoods, and restore hope."

As the UN Climate Summit and Climate Week start, there is excitement and there is anxiety. This year’s event is different from previous climate conferences and treaty negotiations. Temperatures are soaring globally and wildfires are raging across Amazonia and Indonesia. Devastating storms and erratic weather are becoming a daily reality for millions. Fear and apprehension are rising among the public, especially among the young. Demands for action and systematic change are being made across the globe. The alarms being sounded by Extinction Rebellion and FridaysForFuture are making a difference. Yesterday, millions of young people, my own included, marched for their futures with Greta Thunberg at the helm. Climate Week can no longer afford to be just about education and advocacy for climate change policy, it must offer practical, ready-to-go solutions and transformative emergency measures.

Solutions abound, but ones that deliver multiple benefits for economies and ecosystems without causing all sorts of unintended consequences are few. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are a powerful case in point and a very hot topic during climate week this year. For the first time, there is a dedicated Nature Climate hub, created by Nature4Climate, and Climate Week will be bigger than ever. 

The size of this hub reflects growing momentum for nature; its success will be measured in how seriously world leaders accept that NbS are fundamental to stabilising the climate and protecting economies and wellbeing.

The past few months have seen greater recognition of the essential role nature must play in any action we must take: the UN's Manifesto for Nature calls on all world leaders, in business and government, to "do all within their power to ensure that nature’s transformative potential is fully valued and realized in decision-making, especially in relation to climate action". NbS were also strongly endorsed in recent high-profile reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The leading approaches to climate change adaptation, as indicated by countries in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), are nature-based solutions (in particular, conservation/restoration and agroforestry). One pressing issue is that most countries’ NDC neither include clear and measurable targets nor acknowledge the importance of local communities in designing and implementing NbS activities.

We need to get NbS priorities right as we build momentum

Fuzzy definitions and metrics are dangerous. Without scientifically rigorous and sound plans of action, governments and funding agencies relying on their default positions of prioritizing export crops, foreign direct investment, and using Nature-based Solutions to simply offset fossil fuel emissions. Pledges for natural solutions in climate policy often translate into targets for afforestation of naturally treeless ecosystems or reforestation with plantation monocultures of exotic tree species. For example, 66% Bonn Challenge pledges basically involve planting trees and new crops. These fall far short of functioning landscapes where people can live and work or where nature can flourish and support people. NbS advocates will need to consistently and tirelessly steer governments and business away from monoculture plantations for timber and biofuels, and promote species-rich ecosystems that sequester more carbon, reduce poverty, provide livelihoods, and restore hope. It will fall on climate advocates to put the last first, do no harm, and ensure preferential treatment for the poor. 

Advocates of NbS must learn from the past

Failures of the past should be remembered as cautionary tales but not paralyze us. The Integrated Conservation and Development Programs of the 1980s delivered bad outcomes for conservation and poverty reduction; REDD+ as a carbon market mechanism disenfranchised indigenous groups; and EU legislation meant to incentivize biofuels as alternatives to fossil fuels led to the clearing of natural forests and the planting of palm oil plantations. But not all examples from the past are so devastating. The New Deal during the Depression and Dust Bowl mobilized tens of millions of the unemployed to plant trees, build erosion control systems, repair roads, and build hospitals, schools, and community centres. The Civilian Conservation Corps, informally known as Roosevelt’s Tree Army, did reforestation and soil conservation work to reverse drought, flooding, and desertification. The workers received food, lodging, and medical care, and lifted their families out of poverty. I am hopeful that The Green New Deal may show us a way forward. Policies can benefit the natural environment, stimulate investment in green infrastructure, and lead to greater justice and dignity for workers.

Ecosystem stewards: the voice of indigenous peoples must be heard

Smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and subsistence fishing communities make up the majority of people living in poverty. Several organizations attending Climate Week represent these local indigenous communities. The International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change and the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform are two organizations at the front lines of policy for the people. Their voices must be heard. Go to Nature Climate Hub for the full schedule of NbS related events at Convene 101 Park Avenue and Central Park Zoo Sunday 22^nd to Wednesday 25^th.  Join me and my team for the Nature-based Solutions Initiative events on 23^rd and 25^th and/or our daily NbS Evidence Briefing in which we’ll be showcasing evidence for the transformative impacts of Nature-based Solutions to climate change impacts. While we will be digging deeply into scientific and policy minutia at times, we will keep in mind the families, cultures, societies we are trying to protect and the biodiversity of which they are the stewards. 

Working together

If your climate change angst is on the rise, you are not alone. Climate Week will be intense, dramatic, thrilling, and exhausting. We need to be a supportive community to make the most of this opportunity. May your trepidations be channelled into inspiring presentations, your blogs and posts insightful, and your Tweets visionary. May you network like your life depends on it. And may we all emerge with a clear vision of how we and our organizations will change the course of history.

Nature-based solutions: getting the message right

A year ago I described nature-based solutions (NbS) as a hot topic at the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP23. I rather wish I hadn’t as it has left me at a loss for words how best to capture the extent to which NbS dominated the side-event schedule at the COP24 in Poland this year. I lost count of the number of events and workshops featuring NbS either explicitly or implicitly (i.e. many sessions on landuse change, restoration and sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, etc.). My own side-event, convened by IUCN, discussed how we might increase ambition for nature in the NDCs, highlighting the importance of intact ecosystems and science-based targets. A Q&A session hosted in the Nordic Pavilion explored synergies between climate change and biodiversity, during which, Executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Christiana Pasca-Palmer, stated that “we cannot address climate change without dealing with biodiversity loss, and vice versa”. A particularly memorable NbS highlight came from Al Gore who, in his heart-breaking address on the state of the climate, put it well when he said “the best and most effective technology of taking CO2 out of the air is a tree. Taken to scale it is called a forest”.

Meanwhile, in one of many excellent NbS events in WWF’s #PandaHub, the inspiring Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim (co-chair International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate change and the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad) eloquently stated that “what you call nature-based solutions we call a way of life”. She emphasised how indigenous people are experienced stewards of nature and are emerging as major climate champions in their role as the best defenders of forest (e.g. rates of deforestation are lowest in their territories than outside). This view was strong endorsed by Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, who stated that “Indigenous People must be part of the solution to climate change. This is because you have the traditional knowledge of your ancestors. The important value of that knowledge simply cannot—and must not—be understated. You are also essential in finding solutions today and in the future.”

Indeed, one of the most important developments at COP24 was the formal recognition of the “need to strengthen knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change” and the establishment of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP). Declared a major milestone in the history of the UNFCCC, the platform will allow for “exchange of experiences and sharing of best practices on mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner.”

And then on Wednesday of week 2, the Polish presidency announced the “Ministerial Katowice Forests for Climate Declaration”. This encourages all Parties to take action to conserve and enhance forests sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases. Some have dismissed this as “green wash” distracting from the need to severely cut fossil fuel emissions. However, the declaration emphasises “healthy, biologically diverse, and resilient forests adapted to climate change”, which really counts for something (see below).

But beyond the number of side events and high-level declarations, nature permeated the venue and the vibe at COP24. Hallways connecting meeting rooms were decked with stunning imagery from the natural world. The event logo spoke of the interdependency of climate (blue) and biosphere (green). And through the whole of the first week, delegates were treated to our animation defining and explaining nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation as they arrived (thank you whoever was responsible for this – we never managed to find out). 

So: no, there was no escaping nature at this year’s COP24. But where is it all heading?

Getting the NbS message right in 2019 and beyond

Throughout both weeks there was palpable excitement in the conservation community that, on the back of the Global Climate Action Summit in California in September, nature-based solutions are one of six key action areas (so-called “action portfolios”) for the UN Climate Summit in September 2019. This is extremely encouraging and testament to the persistence and decades of hard work by my brilliant colleagues (thank you).  But great care is warranted as momentum for the summit builds. We—as scientists, conservationists and champions of nature-based solutions—must work very closely with policy makers and the UN secretariat to get the message right. There are three major issues we need to be clear on.

• First, nature-based solutions are not an offset mechanism for emissions from the fossil fuel sector. They are not an alternative to keeping carbon in the ground. This can’t be emphasised enough. Emissions must be drastically cut in parallel with promoting nature-based solutions for effective mitigation and adaptation. This is the message of the CLARA alliance, which I endorse strongly.
• Second, nature-based solutions involve the sustainable and equitable stewardship all natural ecosystems (not only forests) and must be grounded in biodiversity science. As I have said elsewhere, and will keep reiterating, in order to deliver longterm carbon sequestration and other key services, natural ecosystems (not only forests) must themselves be resilient. Biodiversity science informs us that this means supporting the widest possible diversity of species, communities, and habitats and ensuring their connectivity, integrity and intactness. NbS do not include monoculture tree plantations.
• Third, nature-based solutions support human adaptation to climate change and other societal goals. In other words, working with nature really isn’t just about storing carbon and slowing warming, it’s also about cost-effective protection of ecosystems to help shield us from floods, droughts, landslides, storms, heatwaves, fire and other disasters increasingly common under climate change.
  
  Ultimately, NbS involve working with nature in such a way that ecosystems continue to support human development and wellbeing in the face of change.