Nature-Based Climate Solutions and Green Capital
mind-blowing potential to tackle the climate crisis
Research shows a trillion trees could be planted to capture huge amount of carbon dioxide
“Planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis, according to scientists who have made the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas. “
-Damian Carrington, The Guardian
This simple and hopeful idea captured the imagination of many. Three months after the publication of this article, a google search of “tree planting and climate mitigation” dished up over 35 million entries!
Wired Magazine subsequently published an article by a gear-head author who did a rough calculation and demonstrated the feasibility of the idea that simply planting the right number of trees could reverse global warming.
Climate super star, Greta Thunberg, picked up the idea. In a video with her friend, George Monbiot, he calls a tree a “magic machine that sucks carbon out of the air, costs very little, and builds itself.”
Of course, tree planting is just one kind of greening. There are many other nature-based solutions, including regenerative agriculture, managed grazing, reforestation, agroforestry, desert greening, gardens, etc.
With so much enthusiasm for nature-based solutions, why aren’t they more widely implemented and scaled up to the point where they are reversing global warming? Greta and George have an answer:
“We spend 1000 times more on global fossil fuel subsidies than on natural-based solutions. ..“Natural Climate Solutions get just 2% of all the money used on tackling climate breakdown. … We need to protect, restore and fund.” (emphasis my own)
Organizations promoting #NatureBasedSolutions have been around for a long time, and new initiatives are emerging every day: The Savory Institute, World Resources Institute, Rodale, Mad Agriculture, etc etc. Most operate as nonprofits, funding themselves through grants, memberships, philanthropic donations, crowdfunding, and a strategy of inspiring consumers to pay more for sustainably produced food and fibers, so called “Land to Market” initiatives.
In a separate universe, environmental finance and capital conferences and organizations are emerging every day. Sales of Green Bonds are surging. Investors are seeking startups. Large pools of capital controlled by pension funds and insurance companies are showing interest. Opportunities are becoming available to individual investors, betting on the profitability of climate solutions and the transition to the next economy.
The question is:
HOW CAN WE CONNECT LARGE CAPITAL INVESTMENTS TO NATURE BASED CLIMATE SOLUTIONS? RAISING THE 2% THESE SOLUTIONS NOW GET? ALLOWING GREEN SOLUTIONS TO SCALE TO A LEVEL WHERE CLIMATE CHANGE IS REVERSING?
STAY TUNED TO CONNECT THE GREEN DOTS...