Protecting Nature
Protecting Nature
Nature: The Climate Ally We Can’t Afford To Lose
Forests, wetlands, grasslands, and oceans are Earth’s original climate defense system — vast carbon sinks that absorb billions of tons of CO₂ each year. But rising temperatures, deforestation, and ecosystem degradation are eroding these systems’ ability to store carbon, and in some cases even risk turning them into mega-emitters. The good news: technology can help. Protecting nature means leveraging innovation to monitor, conserve, and restore these critical systems — from satellites that detect illegal logging in real time to drones that replant forests to tools that measure and safeguard carbon in soils, mangroves, and peatlands. If successful, these interventions could deliver up to a third of the emissions reductions needed to meet global targets — all while preserving the precious living systems humanity can’t live without.
Emissions not estimated by IPCC
Innovation Imperatives
Innovation Imperatives
Critical needs that can help accelerate the path to net zero
Earth Observation
Advance technologies to monitor GHG fluxes, albedo (reflectivity), and land use changes
Understanding how natural systems store and release carbon is critical to protecting them. Advances in Earth observation — such as high-resolution satellite imagery, LiDAR, aerial drones, and affordable ground-based sensors — can deliver real-time data on greenhouse gas fluxes, albedo, and land-use change. These tools can pinpoint illegal deforestation, track the health of carbon sinks, monitor methane emissions, and measure the impact of restoration efforts — providing the actionable intelligence needed to safeguard nature’s role in climate stability.
Natural Emissions Control
Develop interventions to minimize warming-induced emissions from natural systems
As the planet warms, ecosystems like wetlands, peatlands, and permafrost risk shifting from carbon sinks to carbon sources, releasing massive stores of greenhouse gases. Technologies that prevent or slow these emissions — such as wetland water-management systems, methane-oxidation enhancements, or permafrost-stabilization techniques — could avert dangerous climate feedback loops. Developing scalable interventions to control natural emissions is essential to maintaining the resilience and carbon-storage capacity of the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems.
Tech Categories
Tech Categories
Groupings of climate technologies
| Cluster Name | Readiness | |
|---|---|---|
| Ecosystem Monitoring | Commercial | |
Ecosystem monitoring tracks the health and functioning of natural systems, including the prevention of illegal bottom trawling and deforestation, using technological tools such as satellite imagery, field sensors, and biodiversity surveys. | ||
| Restoration & Conservation | Commercial | |
Restoration and conservation involve replanting forests, reviving wetlands, and rehabilitating degraded lands to rebuild natural carbon sinks and enhance biodiversity. Approaches include natural interventions, genetically engineered interventions, and robotic interventions. |
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References
