Climate agreement must recognise nature’s solutions – IUCN

IUCN COP21en

Paris, France, 28 November 2015 (IUCN) – Ahead of the UN climate conference in Paris, IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature – is calling for an agreement that recognises the role of nature in reducing carbon emissions and helping nations adapt to climate change.

While biodiversity and ecosystems are threatened by climate change, their conservation, restoration and sustainable management generate significant and practical nature-based solutions to climate change

 “As we desperately strive to find a viable response to climate change, we tend to overlook the fact that healthy nature can be a goldmine of cost-effective solutions to this challenge,” says Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General. “Far from being merely a victim of climate change, healthy ecosystems can be a powerful ally, boosting our climate resilience, and helping us mitigate and adapt to the effects of a changing climate.

“Investing in nature-based solutions must be at the core of our fight against climate change, which is one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced.”

Natural ecosystems such as forests, river basins and wetlands absorb and store carbon. Terrestrial ecosystems store almost three times the amount of carbon found in the atmosphere while healthy oceans absorb over 25% of annual carbon dioxide emissions.

Conserving, restoring and sustainably managing these ecosystems can generate nature-based solutions to climate change while providing other important economic, social and environmental benefits. Healthy ecosystems provide food and clean water and protect vulnerable communities against climate-related disasters. In the United States, for example, coastal wetlands offer US$ 23 billion worth of storm protection each year.

IUCN urges governments to adopt an agreement that is comprehensive in its coverage of greenhouse gas sources and sinks, maintains the highest possible level of environmental integrity, respects gender equality and human rights, and catalyses more ambitious action by all actors across all sectors, particularly from the business community.

IUCN stresses the need to boost efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to invest in renewable technologies – including research and development – to decarbonise energy systems. It also emphasises the urgency to expand the use of renewable and other low-carbon sources of energy in a manner that improves human and ecosystem well-being.

 

For more information or to set up interviews please contact:

Ewa Magiera, IUCN Media Relations, ewa.magiera@iucn.org, +41 76 505 33 78

Ricardo Tejada, ricardo.tejada@iucn.org, +41 79 856 76 26

Mark Gnadt, mark.gnadt@iucn.org, +41 79 560 62 89

 

Editor’s notes

POSITION PAPER IUCN position on UNFCCC negotiations in 2015

 

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About IUCN

IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges.  IUCN’s work focusses on valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective and equitable governance of its use, and deploying nature-based solutions to global challenges in climate, food and development. IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world, and brings governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation, with more than 1,200 government and NGO Members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. www.iucn.org