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and provide lasting climate benefits that wouldn ’ t otherwise occur , such as preventing a forest from being cleared for use as a pasture or a palm oil plantation .
• Have measurable climate benefits . If we don ’ t understand how much carbon they capture , we cannot claim they are a real climate solution .
• Finally , natural climate solutions must respect the rights , knowledge , culture and livelihoods of Indigenous peoples and local communities , which have in the past been overlooked .
Can you give me an example ?
BG : Yes . Conservation International ’ s carbon project in the bay of Cispatá ,
on Colombia ' s Caribbean coast , reflects these principles .
Left standing , mangroves are climate superstars — a single square mile of mangroves can lock away as much climate-warming carbon as the annual emissions of 90,000 cars . However , despite protections from the Colombian government , mangroves in Cispatá Bay continued to be cleared for cattle and agriculture .
Essentially , they were more valuable dead than alive . This project flipped that economic script . It was the first to accurately measure the carbon stored in the mud mangroves hold between their roots . That opened the door to financial incentives to protect them . In addition , the local community is actively engaged in the project ’ s governance and in carrying out monitoring , data and species conservation .
This speaks directly to the need for natural climate solutions to be measurable and have a positive impact on local people . Over the project ’ s 30- year lifespan , the mangrove forest is expected to prevent the release of approximately 1 million metric tons of carbon — equivalent to taking 184,000 cars off the road for one year — and support the livelihoods of 12,000 people who live in or near the project .
What do you hope this paper accomplishes ?
My hope is that this paper reduces the friction that has arisen around misunderstandings about natural climate solutions so that we can focus squarely on expanding them .
Time is not on our side . In order to avoid catastrophic climate change , the land sector — including agriculture
and forestry — must reach net-zero emissions by 2030 . It is critical that we have a shared understanding of natural climate solutions so we can deliver them quickly and effectively .
Mary Kate McCoy is a staff writer at Conservation International . Want to read more stories like this ? Sign up for email updates . Also , please consider supporting our critical work .
Figure 1 . © Daniel Uribe Cispatá , Columbia
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