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First chapter of Trillion Trees programme launched
Over 20 cities, companies and nonprofits in the US have pledged to collectively plant more than 800 million trees by 2030. This is the first chapter of the World Economic Forum’s Trillion Trees programme to be officially launched. Groups taking part in the new national programme will need to outline detailed plans for how they […] -
Mapping the impacts of hurricanes Maria and Irma on banana production area in the Dominican Republic
Here, we use openly available remote sensing data to quantify the impacts of hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 on banana production area in the Dominican Republic — the world’s largest producer of organic bananas. -
New UK law proposed to protect forests
The UK government has proposed a new law which will force companies above a certain size to ensure that the products they sell have deforestation-free supply chains. Currently, most environmental targets and regulations are restricted to UK territory alone. For example, the net-zero emissions by 2050 target does not include emissions released abroad during the […] -
The Cerrado – Brazil’s savanna deserves protection
This article explains how the Cerrado, the world’s most biodiverse savanna, has been neglected in part due to being overshadowed by its charismatic neighbour – the Amazon rainforset. In fact, the Cerrado is invaluable: Its deep soil holds water from the wet season, feeding into eight watersheds which together provide 40% of Brazil’s freshwater It […] -
Brewdog goes ‘carbon negative’ using NbS – what does this mean?
Brewdog has announced that from the 22 August 2020 they will remove twice as much carbon from the air each year than they emit. Currently, the only method for removing carbon from the air at scale is using natural ecosystems. Let’s take a look at what this company is doing: Calculating scope 1, 2 and […] -
Cloud forest & páramo NbS for water security in Colombia
In April this year Colombia experienced 40% lower rainfall than expected, leading to water shortages during the height of the pandemic. As climate change progresses, Colombian water security will be increasingly threatened with knock-on effects for agriculture, health, and hydroelectric power which generates 73% of the country’s electricity. It is clear that steps must be […] -
IUCN examples of NbS providing multiple benefits
IUCN provide short summaries of NbS being successfully integrated on the ground, including: Agroforestry in Rwanda enabling people to send children to school Integration of shrimp farming with mangrove protection and management in Viet Nam Conservation agricultural providing food security in Mozambique Forest landscape restoration in Malawi with information disseminated by a radio programme Stabilisation […] -
Economic and social constraints on reforestation for climate mitigation in Southeast Asia
Zeng et al. 2020 Reforestation will play an important role in mitigating climate change, but some estimates of reforestation potential lack consideration of social and economic constraints. This paper takes the example of Southeast Asia to estimate the extent to which such constraints reduce total mitigation potential from reforestation. 121 million ha of land were […] -
Local People’s Participation in Mangrove Restoration Projects and Impacts on Social Capital and Livelihood: A Case Study in the Philippines
Valenzuela et al. 2020 Participatory management of mangrove restoration projects by local People’s Organisations in two communities in Quezon, Philippines, has been shown to provide substantial benefits for the people involved as well as increasing long-term sustainability of the restoration projects themselves. Members of People’s Organisations increased their social capital by gaining more numerous and […] -
Climate change mitigation potential of wetlands and the cost-effectiveness of their restoration
Taillardat et al. 2020 Although inland and coastal wetlands are highly efficient sinks of carbon dioxide, they also release methane – another carbon-containing greenhouse gas. Hence, wetlands can in some cases draw down carbon and yet have a net warming effect on the climate due to methane release. This means that restoration, protection and management […] -
Active restoration accelerates the carbon recovery of human-modified tropical forests
Philipson et al. 2020 Over half of tropical forests have been degraded by human activities, such as timber harvesting, reducing carbon storage and biodiversity value, and making them more vulnerable to conversion to agriculture. This paper investigates the effect of natural regeneration and active restoration of degraded forests on recovery of carbon stocks in Sabah, […] -
Integrated farming & forestry in Guatemala
An integrated nature-based farming and forestry approach in Guatemala has increased the resilience of local people to change, as shown by their better ability to cope with the implications of COVID-19 than communities without such a system. The approach is known as “Maize, Potato, Sheep and Forest” (MPOB). It involves intercropping of the primary crops, […] -
Mangrove restoration in Costa Rica
A pilot mangrove restoration project in Costa Rica has demonstrated how mangrove planting can benefit habitat and species conservation, whilst also boosting the local economy. About 40% of Costa Rica’s mangroves were deforested following the collapse of the country’s banana boom in the 1980s. A vigorous fern species has taken over much of the deforested […] -
Sustainable wetland management in Bangladesh
The Tanguar Haor wetland in Bangladesh provides a striking example of how decades of poor ecological management and violation of people’s rights can be turned around with dedicated collaborations of governments, NGOs and local people, but also highlights the challenges of creating community-centric ecological management that is sustainable in the long-term. From the 1930s until […] -
Poverty alleviation in Indonesia protects forests
The correlation between reduced deforestation and poverty alleviation has been well known for years. However, Ferraro and Simorangkir (2020) looked at the direction of causation in Indonesia for the first time. They found that a programme providing households with cash, in return for taking specific health- or education-related actions, resulted in a decrease in forest […] -
UK Environment Agency’s launches five-year plan
In July 2020 the Environment Agency published a new five-year strategy, embedding some of the environmental benefits seen during the pandemic. The plan includes a series of annual targets such as for river protection, habitat creation and emissions cuts, aiming to accelerate the UK transition to a nature-positive, climate-resilient future. Read more details in the […] -
UN funding forest protection in Indonesia, despite rising deforestation rates
The UN’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $103 million of funding for forest protection in Indonesia, through the REDD+ programme. However, the Indonesian government promotes and engages in large-scale deforestation, with rates increasing during the pandemic. Therefore, the GCF has received widespread criticism for using inappropriate methodology for calculating avoided emissions and rewarding funding […] -
UK post-Brexit Environment Bill
Details of the UK’s post-Brexit Environment Bill were launched in January 2020. Further updates on the Bill were announced on August 19th, including the creation of legally binding targets on four key areas: biodiversity, air, water and waste. This means that future governments will be legally bound to meeting these targets, making commitments resilient to […] -
Low-carbon recovery is the best option for Brazil
A new study – A New Economy for a New Era: Elements for Building a More Efficient and Resilient Economy in Brazil – finds that a low-carbon, climate-resilient recovery for Brazil would provide more benefits for the country than continuing the current development model. Compared to business-as-usual a low-carbon economic recovery could provide: A net […] -
Watch NbS Digital Dialogues & read summaries
Summaries We are now pleased to publish summaries of five of the panel sessions from the event. Each summary outlines the key messages made during the session, and makes recommendations of actions to be taken in science, policy or practice, depending on the session, to further advance the successful implementation of NbS. Read the summaries […] -
Five policy recommendations for nature
Business for Nature brought together over 200 companies from 15 sectors, and many additional organisations, to create five policy recommendations for to help protect and restore nature: Provide direction and ambition by adopting ambitious targets to reverse nature loss Increase coherence in UN governance by aligning policies for nature, people and climate, and ensure effective […] -
IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions
On 23rd July 2020 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched a Global Standard for nature-based solutions (NbS). Through a two-year consultation process involving almost 1000 people, IUCN created this set of criteria to define what constitute successful and sustainable NbS. They can be used as guidance by governments, businesses, NGOs, communities […] -
Launch of Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
Back in 2017, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) published voluntary guidelines for reporting risks that climate change poses for business, investments and loans. Now an equivalent set of guidelines is being made for nature-related risk – the creation of a new Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework was announced in […] -
WEF: Nature-led COVID recovery could create $10tn/year
The World Economic Forum’s New Nature Economy report, published in July 2020, found that prioritising nature in the COVID recovery strategy could generate 400 million jobs and $10 trillion per year. Important components of such a strategy are ending the $2 billion of damaging subsidies given daily to agriculture; such subsidies must be redirected at sustainable […] -
Unilever makes new sustainability commitments
The consumer goods giant Unilever, which owns over 400 brands, has already committed to Science Based Targets for zero emissions in operations by 2030. In June 2020 they set out new commitments to sustainability, including: Deforestation-free supply chain by 2023 Providing water stewardship programmes to 100 water-stressed locations by 2030 Net-zero emissions for all products […]