INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE

CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION

Risa Smith

Co-Chair, Protected Areas Climate Change Specialist Group

Linking International Agreements

Nature-Based

Solutions and the Paris Climate

Agreement

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

Using Nature-Based

Solutions to Avoid

Unintended Negative

Consequences

Using Nature-Based

Solutions to obtain co-benefits

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Linking International Agreements

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

4

TRADE IN ENDANGERED

SPECIES

(CITES)

DESERTIFICATION

(UNCCD)

PLANT PROTECTION

(IPPC)

KYOTO

SO MANY INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS: SO FEW CO-BENEFITS

CLIMATE

CHANGE

(UNFCCC)

2030 AGENDA FOR SD &

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

GOALS

MIGRATORY SPECIES

(CMS)

GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD

AND AGRICULTURE

(ITPGRFA)

WORLD HERITAGE

WETLANDS (RAMSAR)

LAW OF THE SEA

(UNCLOS)

BIODIVERSITY (CBD)

PARIS AGREEMENT

BIODIVERSITY BEYOND

NATIONAL JURISDICTION

POLLUTANTS (STOCKHOLM,

BASEL,

MONTREAL)

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NON-GOVERNMENT PLAYERS AND IMPORTANT IMPLEMENTERS OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

MEMBERS

-216 States and government agencies

-1100 non-government

organizations

- 13,000 experts

- 160 countries

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR

CONSERVATION OF NATURE

(IUCN)

6 COMMISSIONS:

-Protected Areas

-Species Survival

-Education and Communication

-Environmental Law

-Environmental, Economic & Social Policy

-Ecosystem Management

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Nature-Based

Solutions and the Paris Climate Agreement

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

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WHAT IS THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT?

0.90C

2017

Limit global

warming to “well

below 20C”

above

preindustrial

levels and to

“pursue efforts to

limit it to 1.50 C”

by end of the

century

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PATHWAYS TO 1.5 OC

Photo credits: 1. ALAMY/The Telegraph; 2. Frontpage/Shutterstock.com; 3. Shzphoto/shutterstock.com

Stop using fossil fuels 1

Remove carbon

dioxide from the

atmosphere

(e.g. ecosystem

restoration &/or

technologies)

3 Reduce

emissions

from land use

& land use

change &

maintain

carbon sinks

(e.g. Stop

deforestation)

2

Source: IPCC 2014 (based on global emissions from 2010)

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Noting the importance of ensuring the

integrity of all ecosystems,

including oceans, and the

protection of biodiversity…. when taking

action to address climate change

PARIS AGREEMENT RECOGNIZES THE ROLE OF NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS

Recognizing the Importance of

the conservation

and enhancement of

sinks and reservoirs of the

greenhouse gases referred

to in the Convention

Preamble Preamble

. . . Achieve a balance between

anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by

sinks of greenhouse

gases in the 2nd half of this

century

Article 4 Article 5

. . . Take action to conserve and enhance … sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse

gases. (includes reducing

deforestation and forest

degradation, conservation

etc. )

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Nature-Based Solutions

Obtain Co-Benefits for

Climate Change and Biodiversity

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

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FORESTS

Amazon Rainforest Brazil. Photo: Filipe Frazao/shutterstock.com

Loss of natural forests is

responsible for ~ 15-20%

of GHG emissions

The Bonn Challenge:

restore 150 million

hectares of deforested

and degraded land by

2020; 350 million

hectares by 2030

To date: 168 million

hectares pledged for

restoration; potential for

15.66 GtCO2

sequestered.

Co-Benefits for the Aichi

Biodiversity Targets

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FORESTS

Adapted from Griscom et al 2017

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CREATIVE URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE

Vertical

Forests in

Milan, Italy

May 28, 2017

By Stefano

Boeri

sustainable

architecture

Photos: Sabino Parente/Shutterstock.com

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PEATLANDS

Photo: Shzphoto/shutterstock.com

Considerable debate exists

on how much carbon is

stored in the world’s

peatlands. Some authors

think it could be greater than

the carbon stored in the

world’s forests.

GHG emissions from

drained or burned peatlands

account for 6% of global

annual CO2 emissions

15% of the world’s peatlands

are already destroyed or

degraded

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PEATLANDS

Adapted from Griscom et al 2017

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CASE STUDY: CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL PEATLANDS IN CONGO BASIN

Curvette Centrale peatland complex extending across

Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Photo: Zero-sum

Equivalent of 3 years of global

greenhouse gas emissions are

stored in the Congo Basin: 30.6

billion tonnes of carbon

covering 145,500 km2.

30% of all of the soil organic

carbon found within tropical

peatlands, and about 5% of all

global peatlands carbon is

found in the Congo Basin.

Only 11% of Congo Basin

Peatlands are in Protected

Areas

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COASTAL WETLANDS (BLUE CARBON): MANGROVES

Mangrove forest, Mexico. Photo: Elis Blanca/Shutterstock.com

Halting half of the annual

coastal wetland loss

would reduce GHG

emissions by 230 million

tonnes of CO2/yr,

equivalent to taking

50,000 cars off the road.

If coastal wetlands were

restored to their 1990

extent it would increase

annual carbon

sequestration 160 million

tonnes CO2 per year –

offsetting the burning of

77.4 million tonnes of

coal.

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COASTAL WETLANDS

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COASTAL WETLANDS (BLUE CARBON): EELGRASS BEDS

Eel grass bed. Photos: Divedog/Shutterstock.

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Photo: Prairie Restorations Inc. Solar pollinator site

RENEWABLE ENERGY Renewable energy

installations can also take a

nature-based solutions

approach.

Solar farms can be:

• Landscaped to attract

pollinators or

endangered species

such as the monarch

butterfly

• Placed on degraded

lands

• Co-located with

agriculture or on

reservoirs

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Nature-Based Solutions to

Avoid Unintended

Negative Consequences

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

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UNINTENDED NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES: CARBON SEQUESTRATION WITHOUT BIODIVERSITY

Young oil palm trees planted on cleared forest land – S.E. Asia

Photo: KYTan/Shutterstock.com

Eucalyptus forest for paper in Brazil.

Photo: Paulo Fridman/Corbis/The Guardian

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INVASIVE GRASSES AND FIRE – CALIFORNIA

Wildfire burning grass and trees in California. Photo: Tongra239/Shutterstock.com

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CASE STUDY: PEATLAND DRAINAGE IN INDONESIA

Wildfire consume dry peatlands in

central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo:

Bay Ismoyo Getty Images

Peatland forest in Kampar, Indonesia, is cleared for a

plantation to grow acacia for pulp wood. Photo: Ahmad

Zamroni/Getty Images

1. Significantly increasing country

ambitions to reduce fossil fuel

emissions

2. Change land, water and marine

management to avoid degrading carbon

sequestering ecosystems, including protecting important carbon sequestering

ecosystems

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

3. Increased use of proven nature-based

solutions to take carbon out of the

atmosphere, including restoration

& protection of restored ecosystems

SUMMARY: WE CAN STILL LIMIT CLIMATE CHANGE TO 20C BY:

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THANK YOU

Risa Smith

Protected Areas Climate Change Specialist Group

Risa.smith.wcpa.iucn@gmail.com

Great Blue Heron with algae & sculpin, Vancouver Island. Photo: Patagonian Stock AE/Shutterstock.