The next time you dig your hands into the dirt or walk by a stand of towering trees, it’s worth remembering that these are our allies in the fight against climate change. That’s because our soil, trees, and other plants store massive amounts of carbon at ground level or underground. This is one of many reasons why the actions we take to conserve and restore nature and improve land management are increasingly urgent. Through these “natural climate solutions,” we can make a big dent in greenhouse gas emissions.

The problem is that humans are razing forests, dredging and filling wetlands, and otherwise exploiting the earth at a breakneck pace. All that degradation means less carbon storage—and, on the whole, leaves ecosystems more vulnerable to the impacts of global warming. (It also endangers the foundational building blocks we rely upon for human life, i.e. clean air, clean water, food security, and flood control.)

The better news? We can still take care of the natural world so it remains an asset in fighting the climate crisis. Here’s where we start.

Better forest management

Forests cover a third of all the land on earth. They’re also carbon-sequestration powerhouses, storing as much as 30 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. But we’ve been destroying our forests at a rapid rate. Since the start of the century, we’ve lost 11 percent of global tree cover. Together, deforestation and forest degradation clock in as the second-biggest source of global carbon emissions after the burning of fossil fuels. That is a shocking stat that, by itself, should move us to action.

But simply planting new trees isn’t the answer. For one, we can’t plant them fast enough to replace the ones we’re clearcutting. Also of note: Rows of just-planted spindly pines don’t store the same amount of carbon as the old-growth trees we’re tearing down in places like the Amazon. We have to adopt more sustainable forestry management practices in the first place. That means conserving primary forests (aka the most intact), rejecting the use of all forests as biomass fuel, and accurately accounting for the massive climate footprint of the logging industry—which has long perpetuated the myth that its activities are carbon neutral. These changes, if bolstered by international pressure and shifts in consumer behavior, can help put an end to the deforestation practices speeding up climate change.

Sustainable agricultural solutions

Agricultural land accounts for 38 percent of the planet’s total land surface. When well cared for, it has enormous potential to suck carbon out of the atmosphere. But the kind of industrial monoculture farming that dominates the U.S. food system depletes the soil—as well as its ability to offset emissions. (Not to mention, carbon-poor soil leads to lower crop yields, less forage, and less biodiversity.)

Farmers should instead adopt the tenets of organic and regenerative agriculture. By planting cover crops, reducing pesticide use, and opting for compost over synthetic fertilizers, we'll end up with soil that’s richer in organic matter and more capable of sequestering carbon, not to mention growing healthier foods. We even have a potentially transformative opportunity this year to reward farmers for climate-friendlier practices in an upcoming farm bill, which will set U.S. food and farm policy for the next five years.

30x30

Coastal ecosystems like wetlands and mangroves accumulate and store carbon in their roots. And we’ve already covered what forests can do. Freshwater wetlands hold between 20 to 30 percent of all the carbon found in the world’s soil. This should make it clear: To address climate change (and the overlapping biodiversity crisis), we have to preserve nature.

That’s why climate experts are calling on world leaders to fully protect and restore at least 30 percent of lands, inland waters, and oceans by 2030—a conservation initiative nicknamed “30x30.” (Just 17 percent of the planet’s lands and 8 percent of its oceans currently qualify as protected, though estimates vary.)

To get there, governments will need to stop industrial abuse of public lands and waters, support the creation of marine protected areas, uphold bedrock environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act, and follow the lead of Indigenous Peoples, many of whom have been faithfully and sustainably stewarding lands and waters for millennia.

All of this, of course, will take funding. We’ll tackle that next week, when we dive into the role of green banks to solve the climate crisis.

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