These nature-based solutions should not be confused with smaller scale urban green solutions to reduce carbon emissions, such as green roofs which enable energy savings in buildings, or green bicycle routes which reduce car use. However, all these measures have additional potential to contribute to climate mitigation, while supporting biodiversity and improving the well-being of local communities.
Some European countries have already strengthened their Climate Action plans with measures that support nature-based solutions. German forests are net carbon sinks that captured 57.7 megatonnes of carbon dioxide in 2015.
However, this trend is decreasing due to a shift in the distribution of the age classes of trees and the reduction in tree growth, as well as changes in the use of wood. The German Climate Action Plan 2050, launched in 2016, seeks to preserve and improve the sink performance of forests through CO2 sequestration in plants and soils, sustainable forest management and use of wood, the conservation of permanent grassland, the protection of peatlands and exploiting the potential of natural forest development to mitigate climate change.
The United Kingdom’s Climate Change Act aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, and forestry is viewed as playing a keyrole in achieving this. To help meet the target, Scotland’s Forestry Commission has a target to extend woodland cover in Scotland by additional 100,000 hectares over the period from 2012 to 2022, locking in an estimated 4 million tonnes of extra CO2 by 2027, while also providing other environmental, social and economic benefits.
Much of the attention is on forests but soils also form a major terrestrial carbon stock. In fact, it has been estimated that there is more carbon fixed in the soil than in the biosphere and atmosphere combined; however, soil’s ability to store carbon is strongly affected by land use and its biological health. Sustainable agricultural methods allow soils to fix carbon, while also protecting the long-term provision of food and other ecosystem services.