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nature as a solution
to climate change
when we
vision
climate change
nature as a solution to
climate change
Climate change is happening now, and the world must respond immediately to
prevent catastrophic impacts. Already we see the earliest evidence in melting
ice caps, increased storms, floods, fires and drought, and dying coral reefs.
Extinction rates are the highest in human history, threatening Earths ecosystems
and the fundamental benefits they provide food, clean air, fresh water, climate
regulation, storm buffering and countless others. All people are affected,
especially the poor who depend most directly on nature for daily sustenance.
To confront this threat to the present and future health of life on Earth, nations of
the world must work together to both mitigate climate change drastically reduce
greenhouse gas emissions to prevent catastrophic warming and adapt to the
significant warming that already is inevitable. Ending the fossil-fuel dependence
of industrial societies is a vital but long-term achievement. Today, we can take
immediate and cost-effective steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help
those people and species most at risk. Fortunately, the best initial approach is
one Conservation International (CI) knows well working with partners around
the world to protect the tropical forests, seascapes and other crucial biological
diversity essential to the resiliency of our planet and the well-being of its people.
Growing trees
absorb
carbon dioxide
from
atmosphere
Deforestation,
logging, and fires
release carbon
dioxide into the
atmosphere
Mature forests store carbon in
biomass and soils
background
background
moving beyond
the Kyoto Protocol
Scientific assessments call for stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere at 400 parts per million or lower to prevent catastrophic
environmental harm. Reaching that level will require immediate and aggressive
reductions in emissions by all major sources. Unfortunately, international efforts
have not yet achieved an effective response. We are still on a trajectory toward
disaster.
Under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol
was adopted in 1997, committing the participating industrialized countries to
reduce their collective emissions 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. That
created the carbon market, a system in which entities trade carbon-offset credits.
Those emitting too much can buy credits in projects that are sequestering
carbon somewhere else in the world. Under the Kyoto Protocol, however, only
the carbon storage of newly planted or replanted forests is eligible for credits that
can be traded. Protecting intact forests otherwise certain to fall to chainsaws and
bulldozers was not included in the original protocol as an emissions-reduction
strategy.
With greenhouse gas emissions increasing each year, the world must act
decisively starting now to create and implement a holistic strategy that includes
the protection of the worlds remaining tropical forests and the vast amounts of
carbon they store, along with marine resources and other biological diversity
essential to human populations.
urgent opportunity
bridge to a low-carbon
economy
We have an open moment in history to ensure that nature is protected and
employed as the world finally confronts the climate challenge in a meaningful
way. Over the next three years, policymakers from all countries will develop a
new global climate agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol when it expires
in 2012. In addition, many countries, including the United States, are
expected to pass new climate legislation in coming years. These actions
and continuing scientific research also will focus on how human societies
can best adapt to warming that cannot be avoided.
Most efforts to mitigate climate change will focus on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions by increasing energy efficiency and developing renewable energy
sources. This global shift from fossil fuel economies, while essential, will take
decades to occur. At the same time, efforts to help people and species adapt
to climate change will focus on developing infrastructure such as levies and
flood-defense mechanisms. These approaches based on man-made technology
overlook the value of nature Earths biological diversity as a cost-effective
and immediate initial response to climate change. It is natures technology,
in the form of healthy ecosystems and the multiple benefits they provide,
that offers a bridge to the longer-term shift away from fossil fuels.
As a first step, the world needs to value nature for the multiple benefits it offers.
Currently, less than 1 percent of the carbon market targets deforestation, which
causes at least 20 percent of global carbon emissions. There are clear signals that
negotiators will correct the earlier oversight in the Kyoto Protocol by including
protection of intact tropical forests as an emissions-reducing activity eligible for
credits in carbon markets. If designed properly, these carbon markets can be a
powerful tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and generating revenue to
protect ecosystems and the multiple benefits they provide.
The window of opportunity is open, but the worlds success will depend on
how and where we act. CI is uniquely qualified to influence the direction and
scope of the global response, based on more than 20 years of experience in
developing and implementing effective biodiversity conservation.
Our three-year goal is to ensure that the world has the knowledge,
experience and resources to help hundreds of millions of people adapt
to climate change; prevent the extinction of more than 100,000
threatened species; and reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by
deforestation in priority regions by 1 to 2 billion tons per year. Reducing
emissions in CIs priority regions represents up to 5 percent of all
greenhouse gas reductions needed by 2030.
challenge
CIs strategy
our model
Results
Biodiversity
People
3. Framework of
Policies + Markets
1. Science +
Knowledge
2. Field
Experience
4. Communications
4. Communications
CO2
our plan
Science + Knowledge
With our unique science-based approach, CI integrates research with
implementation of leading-edge biodiversity conservation programs around
the world. Specifically, CI will:
n Identify the terrestrial and marine ecosystems that merit strategic
investment for climate, biodiversity conservation and human well-being.
n Assess the impacts of climate change and different climate mitigation
strategies on those ecosystems.
n Evaluate the benefits of protecting and restoring those ecosystems
to help species and human populations adapt to climate change.
n Develop a toolkit of effective conservation responses for
policy-makers and field implementers.
our plan
Field Experience
Whether in terrestrial or marine ecosystems, field activities can directly slow the
rate of climate change while helping human and biological communities adapt to its
impacts. For example, our forest conservation and restoration activities significantly
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration, while also
protecting critical biodiversity and supporting local livelihoods. Similarly, our
protection of large seascapes ensures the long-term survival of both diverse marine
ecosystems and the human communities that depend on them.
CIs work in more than 40 countries already has secured reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions equivalent to taking 8 million cars off the road, but we can achieve
much more. We can have an unprecedented and unparalleled impact on climate
change mitigation and adaptation by strategically scaling up our field activities and
rapidly building the capacity of key partners and governments. To achieve this, CI will:
n Evaluate the most effective approaches, methodologies and sites for
mitigation and adaptation activities at multiple scales (from local to
regional) and identify key enabling factors for taking activities to scale;
n
our plan
Framework of Policies
and Markets
CI will promote innovative technical solutions and bring science, learning and
testing to the global community to secure appropriate policy and market
mechanisms based on strengthening natural systems such as tropical forests
and priority marine areas. To expand policies and market incentives, and
leverage financial resources, CI will:
n Influence global and national policies, such as those associated with
the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, U.S. legislation, and
national-level REDD and adaptation programs.
n Harness existing and develop new funding mechanisms for instance
developing a $250 million Conservation and Community Carbon Fund,
and leveraging the financing available via the World Bank, bilateral
donors, and the U.N. Adaptation Fund.
n Set standards for carbon markets through the Climate, Community
and Biodiversity Alliance, the Voluntary Carbon Standard, U.S.
cap-and-trade policies, and the E.U. Emissions Trading Scheme.
our plan
Communications
No one on the planet is immune to the impacts of climate change. We all
need to be part of the solution. Our communications goals are to raise
public awareness worldwide about the need to harness nature to address
climate change and benefit people, and to spur behavioral changes
within key audiences. CI will:
n Influence the behavior of key audience groups, including global opinion
leaders and other influential constituencies; the broader public in the
United States and key countries; and policy makers and business leaders.
n Implement a public service campaign starring Harrison Ford.
n Conduct global multi-media outreach, including television, online,
influential print, radio.
n Leverage the messaging of corporate partners.
Attention
focused on
forests +
oceans
Harrison Ford PSA
Campaign
Global Multi-Media
Campaign
Outreach
Television
Strong online
outreach
Major Press
Coverage
Print
Radio
Leverage
Corporate Partners
Messaging
our model
at work
Madagascar
conservation
Science
n
results
Field Delivery
n
our model
at work
Eastern
Tropical
Pacific
Seascape
conservation
Eastern
Tropical Pacific Seascape
The Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape, comprising marine areas of
Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, experiences ocean
warming every two to seven years as a result of the El Nio phenomenon.
At the heart of the seascape lie the Galapagos Islands with their
unparalleled variety of species everything from penguins to tropical
fish, and corals to marine iguanas. Such unique biodiversity gives CI and
partners the chance to learn how rising temperatures will affect different
species, making the region a living laboratory to study climate change.
Lessons learned can help us protect the Galapagos and marine life all
over the world.
Science
n
Field Delivery
n
results
3-year plan
CIs plan
science + knowledge
field experience
framework of policies
and markets
communications
results
biodiversity protected
carbon dioxide
emissions reduced
people and communities
more resilient
We face this open moment in history with the
knowledge of how to proceed. Now we need
the will and resources to act strategically and
effectively. Nature provides an immediate
and cost-effective way to start reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and help human
populations adapt to the changing climate.
CI is ready to lead this crucial effort to restore
the Earths natural balance, for the benefit of
present and future generations.
n n n n
n
Biodiversity Hotspots
High-Biodiversity Wilderness
Areas
Abrolhos Bank
Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape
Gulf of California
Madagascar
Melanesia
Meso-American Barrier Reef
Mozambique
Papuan Birds Head Seascape
Polynesia/Micronesia
Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape
Venezuela
our mission
800.406.2306
www.conservation.org