The Climate Change Solution Under Our Noses
Our planet’s outermost surface is so important, it bears its name: earth. It’s the foundation of forests, grasslands and other natural habitats and the medium that gives us food, medicine, clothes, fuel, and livelihoods. Unfortunately, our use and misuse of land accounts for a significant proportion of our total annual greenhouse gas emissions, yet it accounts for a paltry amount of climate funding. We cannot prevent the worst effects of climate change without improving the ways we use land.
Every minute, about 27 football pitches’ worth of forests are lost. Their destruction — and that of grasslands, mangroves and other habitats — emits huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, where they heat the planet. At the same time, habitat loss diminishes the earth’s capacity to pull those gases back into the ground.
Jaime Rojo WWF US