Anil Madhavapeddy

Do not rule out nature from climate action; an open letter / Sep 2025 / DOI

A world without nature feels rather impermanent, doesn't it? It's difficult to imagine a healthy future without clean air, fresh water and diverse wildlife. Yet important policy is being decided at the moment that will sideline "nature-based solutions" for net-zero carbon targets. While it is true that anything involving nature is fundamentally less predictable than human edifice, it is not true that it can't be quantified through science-based methods! Advances in remote sensing mean we have better resolution views into nature than ever before in human history, and we can leverage those towards protecting what's left. The wrong economic incentives are pushing us into a dangerous crossroads where several policy paths effectively abandon nature.

Back in January 2024, I hosted a workshop on permanence and durability at Pembroke College attended by sixty experts in this topic, with their recommendation reflected in the continuous improvement report on permanence from the ICVCM in May this year. I now join 40 other colleagues today in signing an open letter to the UN Article 6.4 supervisory body strongly calling out the scientific imperative to incentivise natural climate solutions on the path to net zero.

A number of proponents of climate action policy are advocating for only considering 'entirely durable' carbon sequestration as the ones we should account for. That usually means carbon sequestration technologies, and rules out nature based solutions due to arbitrary thresholds. However, temporary removals can deliver immediate climate benefits which are urgently needed, and we've proposed several schemes of equivalent permanence accounting along with others that propose credible paths forward.

I argue instead for a principle of parallel action: we need to invest in both fully durable carbon sequestration technologies as well as nature based solutions. Humanity can no long afford to take single bets; warming and biodiversity loss has advanced to the point where concerted parallel action is required to overshoot sufficiently to bring balance back. Setting aside nature at this critical juncture is unbelievably short-sighted, and the incentives we establish for nations this decade will echo through the remainder of the century. The future of food security, arresting pandemic spread and soil health all depend on protecting nature.

If you agree, please read the open letter and sign up. See also this great explainer about nature-based durability.