forging

natural
solutions
to climate
change
12/09
To secure a stable climate for all life on Earth,
Conservation International (CI) works to provide sound
scientific, financial and policy guidance, practical field
expertise and tools for decision-makers and our global
network of over 1,000 partners to solve our world’s
greatest challenge. Every effort is designed to develop
and implement successful and sustainable solutions that
contribute to resolving climate change while providing
enduring benefits to national economies, local
communities, natural ecosystems and biodiversity.
an urgent challenge
Scientific evidence suggests that the current trajectory
of climate change patterns surpasses even worst-case
scenarios, and could lead to catastrophic and devastating
consequences for all life on Earth.
Without immediate steps to curb climate change, over Achieving climate security requires an aggressive and
the next ten years up to 300 million people­— more than broad-ranging approach. We must take immediate
the entire population of the United States—could suffer action to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and
damaging climate change impacts. This is in addition stabilize their atmospheric concentrations at 350 parts
to those already feeling its effects. per million (ppm) to avoid catastrophic consequences.
We must also provide human communities with the
Specifically, changing weather patterns, rising sea knowledge and tools needed to effectively adapt to the
levels and other effects of climate change could impacts and influences of climate change.
increase the number of nations and communities
affected by coastal flooding each year, decrease water Urgent action is needed, now.
availability by up to 50 percent in some locations and
accelerate extinction rates of up to half of all animal
and plant species on Earth.
a natural solution
Natural solutions to the climate crisis are immediately
available—we have the technology and capacity to
conserve and restore natural ecosystems today.
Healthy forests and other natural ecosystems, including
wetlands, peatlands, mangroves and seagrass beds,
serve an essential role in combating climate change.
Protecting natural ecosystems reduces the risk
of catastrophic impacts like floods and droughts,
contributes to food security, allows for species
migration and ecological adaptation, and supports
the livelihoods of indigenous and local communities.
Of the 1.5 billion people the World Bank estimates
live in extreme poverty worldwide, nearly 90 percent
depend on marine and terrestrial ecosystems
and the services they provide. Yet conventional
solutions for poverty reduction and economic
growth neglect the environmental consequences of
development decisions. Without aligning efforts to
improve human livelihoods with actions designed to
help societies mitigate and adapt to climate change,
both efforts will fail.
Securing the conservation of nature and ensuring its
continued contribution to the well-being of human and
natural communities is a central tenet of CI’s mission
and our approach to climate change.
To realize these solutions, we work to develop
appropriate policies and market and financial
incentives to provide for the effective governance
of tropical forests and reduction of emissions from
deforestation. In addition, we provide sound science,
planning and financing to secure the adaptation
potential of ecosystems critical for food, fresh water
and health security.
Global policies and incentives are fundamental,
but sound national institutions and financial
mechanisms are equally urgent. Additionally, local
communities and resource stewards—from migrant
farmers to indigenous peoples—are on the front lines,
with great potential to secure natural solutions if access
to knowledge, capacity, economic alternatives and
equitable participation is provided.
The urgent crisis of climate change can only
be resolved with the right coordination among
governments, the private sector, civil society and
local communities. Conserving natural ecosystems
must be part of the climate solution.
setting priorities
Deep emissions cuts and
financing for climate
mitigation and adaptation
are needed urgently, and
slowing deforestation and
forest degradation in tropical
regions can provide a
significant portion of the
emissions reductions needed,
now. Natural ecosystems
should be recognized,
protected and restored by the
international community as
part of efforts to address the
impacts of climate change.
Reducing Emissions
Protecting forests is an essential element of the battle against
climate change, but it is not a substitute for cutting emissions
from other sources of greenhouse gases.
While earlier estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) suggested a GHG stabilization goal
of 450 ppm CO2 equivalent (CO2e), current scientific models
indicate that avoiding dangerous climatic disruption and
ocean acidification likely requires stabilization of greenhouse
gas concentrations at 350 ppm CO2e.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) has a goal of achieving stabilization within
a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally
to climate change, to ensure that food production is not
threatened and to enable economic development to proceed
in a sustainable manner. Meeting these goals will require
aggressive measures in all sectors.
Immediate Funding
Protecting forests and other ecosystems that provide climate
regulation and a variety of benefits to humanity requires
equitable, adequate and sustainable compensation for the
nations and communities who maintain them. Funding is
critically needed to meet the climate change adaptation
challenges in developing countries. Without immediate
and meaningful financing to address the adaptation and
mitigation needs of these countries, the climate crisis will only
become more acute and irreversible.
Funding should be committed by developed countries to
stimulate aggressive measures to reduce emissions and
to secure the adaptive capacity of human and natural
communities. Interim or “fast start” funding for developing
countries should be on the order of $30 billion for the
three years following Copenhagen (2010-2012) and scaled
up subsequently to meet the magnitude of the climate crisis.
REDD+
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation plus conservation, the sustainable management
of forests and enhancement of forest carbon requires a suite
of policy reforms and incentive structures aimed at providing
compensation to halt the deforestation and degradation of
natural forests and increase their recovery and permanent
conservation.
REDD+ strategies and activities have great potential to
contribute to environmental, economic and social goals
beyond carbon storage. This approach is consistent
with the UNFCCC goal of contributing to sustainable
development, climate security and other Millennium
Development Goals. A REDD+ mechanism must provide
incentives for all forested developing nations, including
those that have historically maintained a high level of forest
cover and low deforestation (HFLD countries), and fund
efforts in those countries appropriately.
Adaptation
All ecosystems—including forests, oceans, coastal zones
and freshwater areas—provide a natural infrastructure and
perform vital tasks, like buffering communities from storms
and other extreme weather; providing dependable flows of
water for drinking and agriculture; and directly contributing
to food, livelihood and health needs. By protecting natural
environments, we help the animals and plants that live there
sustain the resources they need to adapt to the impacts of
climate change, thus protecting the biological diversity that
is fundamental to all life on Earth.
Engaging Communities
People in many places are affected not only by climate
change, but also the efforts made to address it.
Indigenous peoples and local communities need to be
transparently and equitably included at the earliest stage
in developing any plans that may affect them. They must
be guaranteed “free, prior and informed consent” to
decisions affecting their livelihoods and traditional lands—
clearly informed about what is planned and ensured that
any agreements take into account their culture, livelihoods
and well-being. Indigenous peoples and local communities
should furthermore benefit equitably from any payment
in return for climate regulation activities and other
ecosystem services provided by the areas that
they effectively conserve.
demonstrating
success CI has both the scientific
expertise and practical field
experience to make nature-
based solutions a key
component of efforts to
address climate change.
We are working with
government, civil society,
indigenous and community
groups, and private sector
partners to establish the
conservation of ecosystems
as a central and urgent
element of a comprehensive
climate strategy.
Mantadia, Madagascar
Protecting standing forests and slowing forest loss reduces
the amount of GHGs, especially CO2, released into the
atmosphere. Reforesting and restoring degraded lands also
removes CO2 from the atmosphere since trees sequester
carbon as they grow. CI is working with the government of
Madagascar and local communities to design and implement
forest carbon projects, protecting more than 425,000
hectares (more than one million acres) of standing rain
forests and restoring more than 5,000 hectares
(12,355 acres) of previously degraded land with
native species and fruit gardens.
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Climate change is impacting our oceans by melting the
poles, changing major ocean current systems, warming
waters, raising sea levels, and making the ocean more
acidic. These changes pose serious threats to marine life
and the natural resources that millions of people depend
on worldwide. CI is working in the Galapagos Islands
to determine how climate change has affected marine
habitats, and to provide recommendations to the Ecuador
government about how to best protect endangered species
and habitats. These recommendations have subsequently
contributed to the development of Ecuador’s national
climate adaptation strategy.
Amazon Forest, Brazil
The Amazon forest is increasingly threatened by deforestation.
Because deforestation is one of the leading causes of
climate change, the loss of forest threatens the survival of
many indigenous communities such as the Kayapó, one
of the largest local communities inhabiting the Amazon
forest. CI and the Kayapó have been partners in creating
solutions to protect the forest since 1992, working alongside
local partners to teach effective monitoring solutions and
developing appropriate benefit-sharing mechanisms.
Suriname Green
The government of Suriname has partnered with CI to
promote its low-carbon development strategy—“Suriname
Green.” Specifically, revenue received by the government
for maintaining high forest cover and low deforestation rates
will be used to support local communities inhabiting the
conserved land, protect freshwater systems and invest in
green, low-carbon technology development.

Chiapas, Mexico
Climate change has noticeable impacts on various
ecosystems, but also on the individuals who take advantage
of ecosystem services. CI is working in the state of Chiapas in
Mexico to understand how changes in climate have affected
farming in cocoa and coffee. Partnering with Starbucks, CI
is evaluating livelihood solutions for local communities and
providing adjustment strategies for those most impacted.
delivering solutions
CI is pursuing an aggressive
strategy to mitigate greenhouse
gas emissions from
deforestation and logging, and
helping all nations, especially
developing countries, adapt to
climate change by preserving
productive and resilient natural
ecosystems. These two key
prongs of an effective climate
response also underpin our
efforts to promote human well-
being and sustainable, low-
carbon economic growth.
 CI’s goal is to integrate the conservation of natural ecosystems into climate change mitigation
and adaptation policy and action to prevent up to 2 billion tons of CO 2 emissions annually
by 2020 and to secure the adaptive potential for human and natural communities worldwide.

Linking local projects to national plans and supporting the development of international policies:
n Define specific adaptation goals—assessing the n Supportthe development of effective national
vulnerability of key ecosystems and developing and regional plans, policies and institutions, and
effective responses based on current science, the capacity to implement these plans
technology, capacity development and effective
n Establish
specific local forest carbon, ecosystem
community engagement
conservation and benefit-sharing goals
n Develop
and achieve specific REDD+
implementation goals

In order to achieve our long-term goals, CI will be taking specific action over the
next three years to contribute to a global climate solution. Specific steps include:
n Expandingglobal awareness and n Supporting the development of U.S. policy
promotion of nature-based climate at federal and state levels that provides
change solutions and actions incentives and legislative mechanisms for
n Helping to develop comprehensive nature-based mitigation and adaptation
national climate plans strategies in developing countries
n Advising n Strengthening and enhancing public and
on national low-carbon
development initiatives private funding mechanisms to support
REDD+ and other nature-based mitigation
n Assisting
developing countries with
and adaptation strategies
the technical and institutional capacity
n Promoting robust voluntary and regulatory
needed to deliver REDD+
carbon markets to generate forest carbon
n Planningand implementing ecosystem-
investment and meet standards for
based (both marine and terrestrial)
conservation outcomes
adaptation activities
n Building a supply of forest carbon projects
n Supporting the achievement of a UNFCCC
n Increasing
funding for nature-based climate
climate agreement that provides strong
incentives for nature-based mitigation change mitigation and adaptation
and adaptation strategies
a new path
It is impossible to overstate the importance of finding
comprehensive solutions to our growing climate crisis.
CI is committed to developing sound science, effective
global and national policy, progressive markets and
economic incentives, local capacities and practical models
in order to deliver an immediate and sustainable response.
With the right combination of partnerships and
concerted effort, the conservation of nature can
serve as our most important asset in resolving the
greatest challenge of our time.
 Every person on Earth deserves a healthy
environment and the fundamental benefits
that nature provides. But our shared planet is
experiencing an unprecedented drawdown of these
resources, and it is only by protecting nature’s gifts—
a stable climate, fresh water, healthy soils and reliable
food—that we can ensure a better, more prosperous
life for everyone, everywhere.

At Conservation International we are

committed to restoring and maintaining
the world’s natural systems. Through scientific
rigor, creative thinking, and aggressive action, we are
proving that species can be saved, landscapes can
be protected and people can thrive.

our vision
We imagine a healthy prosperous world in which
societies are forever committed to caring for and
valuing nature for the long-term benefit of people
and all life on Earth.
conservation.org
our mission
2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500 Building upon a strong foundation of science,
Arlington, VA 22202 USA partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers
800.406.2306 societies to responsibly and sustainably care for
nature for the well-being of humanity.

Photo Credits, From front to back and left to right

© CI/photo by Levi Norton, © CI/photo by John Martin,

© CI/photo by Haroldo Castro, © Natasha Miller,
© CI/photo by Sterling Zumbrunn,
© Art Wolfe* / www.artwolfe.com, © Robin Moore*,
© Istockphoto

*member of