This is the first in a series of blog posts examining some of the thorny issues related to climate and investing in a green transition. In this blog post, we look at the term, ‘climate solutions’. Through the Green Investment Declaration, Operation Noah is encouraging churches and faith institutions to invest in ‘climate solutions’ – but what exactly do we mean by that phrase?
What are climate solutions?
Climate solutions are a wide range of technologies and practices which contribute to significant reduction and prevention of human-caused greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. While most climate solutions focus on reducing or preventing emissions, some also include measures to help adapt to our changing climate, such as climate-adjusted agricultural practices or flood defences. It is important climate solutions are proven, scalable, safe and equitable.
Are all ‘climate solutions’ created equal?
With stories of greenwashing frequently in the news, helping to accelerate funding for climate solutions can seem like a minefield. For example, is reforestation good if it involves planting non-native monocrops for wood production? Are some investments in renewables more impactful than others? And what about ‘nature-based solutions’, like improving soil quality?
To help us navigate these and other questions, there are a number of frameworks for cataloguing and analysing the effectiveness of any given climate solution. These include:
- Project Drawdown, which researches the effectiveness and potential impact of nearly 100 different climate solutions. Their website is regularly updated and major updates are coming in 2025. They also have this helpful video as a starting point: What is a climate solution, what is not, and why? | Presented by Dr. Amanda D. Smith – YouTube.
- The EU Taxonomy (based on 2020 EU legislation) maintains that sustainable activities should make a substantial contribution to one of six environmental objectives, while doing no significant harm to the other five objectives. The taxonomy’s first two objectives are climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. Activities making substantial contributions to these first two objectives will be considered climate solutions, whereas contributing to the other four objectives, though beneficial, will not.
- Exponential Roadmap published a Climate Solutions Framework in July 2024. It identifies climate solutions which produce significantly lower emissions than current market options, while not extending the life of fossil fuel dependent technologies or doing significant harm to biodiversity or creating significant pollution.
What pitfalls should we look out for?
Even the best climate solution can be implemented poorly. Institutions tackling the climate crisis must also uphold human rights, protect nature, and ensure sustainable practices. There may yet be new climate solutions which are not currently proven, scalable, safe or equitable. While some investors may choose to speculate on these, it’s important to prioritise the many solutions which we know already work to reduce emissions, such as investments in wind and solar power as well as battery storage. We must not get distracted by tactics from fossil fuel companies keen to promote unproven or small-scale solutions with the aim of continuing ‘business as usual’.
What about ‘nature-based solutions’? Are they the same as rewilding? And is that always a good thing?
Nature-based solutions (NbS) are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems, benefiting people and nature at the same time. They address major societal challenges – one of which is climate change – while others address food and water security, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity loss or human health.
Operation Noah particularly promotes nature-based solutions that benefit the climate by tackling greenhouse gas emissions, including growing trees, protecting peatland, and nature-friendly farming. Solutions which primarily target biodiversity, while worthwhile endeavours, fall less within our remit as a charity focused on the climate crisis. Having said this, the benefits can coincide, as restoring woodland locks up carbon while also supporting biodiversity.
One of the major areas in evaluating nature-based solutions is considering the trade-offs involved. Certain actions to address the climate crisis may have negative impacts on food or water security, or human health. Rewilding is another area that can have complex unintended consequences. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) hosts the Global Standards for NbS and currently has a working group that is considering rewilding.
While locally-supported rewilding done well has many environmental benefits, we are not persuaded that it is necessarily an appropriate or efficient solution for larger areas of productive farmland. But there are a range of rewilding-style measures – such as restoring protected hedgerows and field margins – that all farms can and should embrace.
A helpful article is: What is rewilding and how is it relevant to climate change? – Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment (lse.ac.uk)
What can we do to support climate solutions?
Ask your church, denomination or diocese if it is actively investing in climate solutions. By signing our Green Investment Declaration, you can be supported in your investment journey as your faith institution joins other Churches, dioceses and faith groups in funding a greener future.