Act Beyond Value Chain

Natural Climate Solutions offer enormous potential to address emissions while simultaneously providing multiple benefits to both people and nature. NCS, which are Nature-based Solutions (NbS) designed to combat climate change, leverage nature's inherent ability to remove and store carbon from the atmosphere. These solutions could significantly contribute to carbon removal efforts, with the potential to remove over 100 gigatons of the projected 810 gigatons of CO2 removals required by the end of the century to stay on the below 1.5°C pathway.

Nature-based Solutions encompass a broad range of actions aimed at protecting, conserving, restoring, sustainably using, and managing natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems. These actions effectively address social, economic, and environmental challenges while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience, and biodiversity benefits. (UN, 2022)

NCS play a critical role in achieving a just transition to global net zero emissions by 2050. Companies can invest in NCS in two different ways:

1. Businesses whose value chains include emissions generated by forestry, agriculture, or other land use activities should invest in NCS within their own value chain to address their own land-based greenhouse gas emissions.

2. Companies who need to counterbalance their annual unabated emissions should invest, in addition to their annual decarbonization efforts, in NCS through voluntary carbon credits.

Biodiversity and people play a fundamental role in delivering positive, high-integrity climate mitigation impacts.

By investing in NCS, you can address multiple interconnected challenges, but only well-designed and properly implemented NCS will deliver climate mitigation benefits, biodiversity gains and positive opportunities for local communities and Indigenous Peoples. You should conduct due diligence to ensure NCS activities generating carbon credits provide these additional benefits.

Natural Climate Solutions comprise three of the top five climate solutions identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with the greatest potential to reduce emissions: Reduced conversion of forests and other ecosystems; Carbon sequestration in agriculture; and Ecosystem restoration, afforestation, reforestation (4).

Natural Climate Solutions fall into three broad categories:

1. Protect ecosystems from impending or future degradation, reducing further CO2 emissions and additional loss of biodiversity.

2. Sustainably manage natural and modified ecosystems through regenerative agriculture and improved forest management practices, also contributing to the recovery of biodiversity. These solutions are categorized both as emission reductions and carbon removals, depending on the specific activity.

3. Restore ecosystems that have been degraded or previously converted. These solutions are categorized as carbon removals as the growth of new natural systems results in sequestration that may not have otherwise occurred, along with additional biodiversity benefits.

All categories also may benefit adaptation and reduce vulnerability to climate change. Given their role in climate mitigation and addressing the loss of biodiversity, all categories of NCS are needed. Investments in the protection of existing carbon stocks to further reduce emissions deliver much needed and immediate benefits. These should then be complemented with investments in improved ecosystem management and restoration – leading to carbon removal – which generally take longer to generate positive climate and biodiversity outcomes.

Examples of different types of NCS

Afforestation and Reforestation: Planting trees or restoring forests on degraded or deforested land.

Agroforestry: Integrating trees into agricultural landscapes can enhance carbon storage in soil and biomass, while also providing additional benefits such as improved soil health, biodiversity conservation, and increased resilience to climate change.

Peatland Restoration: Rehabilitating degraded peatlands, such as drained or burned peat swamp forests, can prevent the release of stored carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Restoration efforts involve rewetting peatlands, re-establishing native vegetation, and preventing further degradation.

Conservation Agriculture: Practices like no-till farming, cover cropping, and crop rotation help improve soil health and carbon sequestration while reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Wetland Restoration: Restoring and conserving wetlands, such as marshes, swamps, and mangroves, can sequester carbon in soil and vegetation while providing crucial ecosystem services such as flood control, water purification, and habitat for biodiversity.

Grassland Management: Implementing sustainable grazing practices, rotational grazing, and restoring degraded grasslands can enhance carbon storage in soil and vegetation while improving pasture productivity and biodiversity.

Blue Carbon: Protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems like seagrass beds, salt marshes, and mangroves can sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in sediments, thereby mitigating climate change and providing coastal protection and habitat for marine life.

NCS Procurement Hub

The NCS Procurement Hub is a business-only community platform for current and potential carbon credit buyers and investors navigating the complex landscape of NCS carbon credit procurement. It helps you maintain integrity when investing in the voluntary carbon market by providing trustworthy information, risk management tools, expert guidance, a Q&A function, a community of peers, connection to high-quality NCS projects and exclusive events tailored to your needs.

While this chapter gives a general overview of some of the topics related to NCS carbon credits, the Hub provides a lot more resources, and deep dives into topics such as:

• NCS Projects and Programs

• Procurement Process

• Due Diligence

• Role of Governments

• Claims

• Reporting

• Communication

This is a secure, learning environment for businesses. You can sign up for free at www.NCSProcurementHub.org.