Online Series: Oxford net zero: Value and limits of working with nature to address climate change

As the UK prepares to host the next UN climate summit, a wave of businesses, cities and countries are pledging to bring their emissions down to net zero. Oxford scientists were among the first to show that net zero is needed to end global warming. Now, the new Oxford Net Zero initiative is bringing together leading academics from across the University to focus on how it can be achieved.

This series of discussions will showcase the diversity of net zero research at Oxford, and point to the burning questions that need to be answered in the race to halt the climate crisis.

Value and limits of working with nature to address climate change
 

The failure to stem the tide of biodiversity loss, or to address the deeply related issue of climate change, demands we quickly find more ambitious and more coherent approaches to tackling these challenges.https://www.crowdcast.io/e/nature-climate-change/register?utm_source=Oxford%20Martin%20School%20Academics%20(Past%20%26%20Present)%20%26%20Admin&utm_campaign=6e32acfe89-Oxford_Martin_School_Events_Jan_March_2018_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9b3128cc0e-6e32acfe89-1243173009

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are one such family of approaches that has recently gained prominence in international policy and business discourse. Broadly defined as actions that involve working with nature to address societal goals, NbS are being widely hailed as a win-win for addressing biodiversity loss and climate change. However, this win-win scenario is not guaranteed.

Some NbS - particularly those involving planting trees in naturally treeless habitats - can have negative outcomes for climate change mitigation, biodiversity and local peoples’ livelihoods. There are also critical questions around the timeframes over which NbS can help tackle the biodiversity and climate crises given the negative impacts of warming on the health of the biosphere.

In the second discussion in the Oxford Net Zero Series, hosted by the Oxford Martin School, Professor Nathalie Seddon, will bring together interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners to explore the value and limits of working with nature to address climate change and why NbS must both support biodiversity and be implemented with, by and for people, if they are to provide benefits over the longterm.

Register here.