NbS in the News

We talked to Carbon Brief about tree planting in the UK.  If the UK government’s tree-planting targets are achieved, even with optimistic estimates of carbon sequestration they would only provide a small proportion of the total carbon capture required to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) predicts that (with a [...] Read more Tweet March 19, 2020

David Shukman, Science Editor at the BBC, spent a few hours in Wytham Woods talking to Nathalie Seddon about the recent surge of public and media interest in tree-planting. The resulting article specifically looks at UK tree planting targets and raises some valid concerns: 1) The workforce for tree planting at the scale envisaged by [...] Read more Tweet March 18, 2020

The UK government disclosed this year’s budget on the 11th March. It includes increases in spending in biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Notable commitments include:

– £640m Nature for Climate Fund to restore 35,000 hectares of peatland and plant 30,000 hectares of trees (an area about the size of Birmingham) in [...] Read more Tweet March 12, 2020

This report summarises actions required to deliver net-zero emissions in the UK by 2050, without the emergence of not-guaranteed new technologies. The authors calculated that this would require much more drastic actions than suggested by government bodies such as the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). For example, all airports would need to be closed between [...] Read more Tweet March 9, 2020

Strip mining and later mountaintop-removal for coal has caused widespread destruction of native forest in Appalachia, USA, over the past decades. Around 1.5 million acres have been ‘restored’, but rather than natural forests returning, the land is covered in degraded grassland, dominated by invasive plant species. However, some areas were re-planted with trees; this not [...] Read more Tweet March 5, 2020

Whilst halting loss of tropical forest in Malaysia is clearly a global priority, the 1.54 million hectares of remaining peat swamp attract less media attention. Peatlands are the most carbon-rich terrestrial ecosystem per unit area, and so from a climate change mitigation perspective, preserving them is vital. However, Malaysia’s peat swamps are under threat from [...] Read more Tweet March 5, 2020

Only three of the 197 Paris Agreement signatories have submitted updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in time for the informal 9th February deadline. The Marshall Islands accounts for just 0.00001% of global emissions, and so focus on making Pacific Islands more resilient to climate change-induced storms and sea level rise rather than on mitigation. The [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020

Greenbiz magazine describes Nature-based Solutions as leveraging ‘nature’s inherent genius’. Nature loss puts companies’ supply chains, reputation and financial security at risk, and companies are starting to realise this, encouraged by the World Economic Forum and Business for Nature. According to Greenbiz, so far over 350 companies have made [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020

In 2015, Sri Lanka declared that they would protect all their mangrove forests, in order to restore the precious ecosystem services that they provide: carbon sequestration, coastal protection, fisheries support and more. Partnering with two non-profit organisations (Sudeesa and Seacology), the Sri Lankan government has started a programme to protect and replant 35,000 hectares of [...] Read more Tweet February 11, 2020

‘I haven’t met any anti-tree people yet’ says Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. This is perhaps because whilst tree planting can be a great thing (indeed, an effective Nature-based Solution with manifold benefits), it can also be harnessed by governments and incorporations as a ‘get out of jail card’ by making it appear like they [...] Read more Tweet February 3, 2020