– The world faces converging environmental crises that are inextricably linked and compounding: the accelerating destruction of nature and climate change. Natural climate solutions (NCS) offer an opportunity to address both and generate significant additional environmental, social and economic benefits.

– Private-sector commitment to action is gaining momentum, with many companies setting the goal of reaching net-zero emissions and some also making commitments on nature. As a result, NCS are gaining attention and carbon markets are growing fast. Corporate strategies that aim to use NCS to help deliver a net-zero pathway are on the verge of becoming mainstream.

– NCS are fundamental to delivering a net-zero pathway alongside rapid decarbonization, by enabling avoidance/reduction of emissions, and removal/sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

– Reaching a 1.5° or 2°C pathway by 2030 will require about a 50% net-emission reduction of annual emissions to around 23 gigatons of carbon dioxide (Gt CO2) from 2019 levels.

– We estimate a practical potential of close to 7Gt CO2 per year from NCS projects, sufficient to deliver around one-third of that target and to achieve carbon removal in the near term and at lower cost than technological solutions. The bulk of this total comprises four types of NCS: avoided deforestation and peatland impact, peatland restoration, reforestation and cover crops.

– NCS are typically low-cost sources of carbon abatement. In most cases, costs are between $10 and $40 per ton of CO2 with variations between geographies and project types.

– Beyond helping to address the changing climate, NCS can also deliver significant co-benefits to nature and humanity, and can generate private capital flows to countries that offer the highest potential for NCS projects, typically forest-rich countries in the Global South.