NbS in the News

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

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has published a new report on how UK land use must change in order to meet the government’s net-zero emissions target. A key recommendation was for 22% of UK agricultural land to be converted into habitats designed for carbon sequestration. This will include restoration of at least 50% [...] Read more Tweet January 27, 2020

The World Economic Forum has published the Global Risks Report 2020 which identifies the top global risks (uncertain events that if they occur would have significant negative effects on society within the next 10 years). The risks were ranked by completion of surveys by 1047 experts in economics (25%), technology (13%), geopolitics (12%), environment [...] Read more Tweet January 16, 2020

The well-loved and highly esteemed naturalist and TV-presenter, Sir David, has publicly warned in a BBC interview that we have reached ‘the moment of crisis’ with respect to climate change. He explained that we do understand what steps we need to take to combat climate change, but simply lack the political will and that [...] Read more Tweet January 16, 2020

Several events in 2019 demonstrated increased public awareness and understanding of the importance of climate change. Fridays for Future movement has galvanized millions of people protesting across 150 countries, Greta Thunberg has become a household name, and the environment became a major topic [...] Read more Tweet January 13, 2020

There are signs that the UK government is shifting in the direction of reducing the extent of farmland, and returning swathes of land to nature. Notably, Professor Sir Ian Boyd, former chief scientific advisor to the UK government, has advised that half of the nation’s farmland should be converted into natural habitats. This is estimated [...] Read more Tweet January 13, 2020

Late 2019 saw a surge of interest in tree planting. For example, during the December election campaign in the UK, political parties competed over how many trees they would plant if they were elected. Labour pledged to plant 2 billion trees by 2040; if extended to 2050 this would cover 25% of total land area [...] Read more Tweet January 13, 2020