Reports and Publications

Indigenous Peoples’ lands are important for conservation and socio-ecological well-being. Industrial development threatens these lands, but the magnitude and risk remain unclear. Here we employ a global index comprised of rights, representation, and capital indicators to assess conversion vulnerability and explore possible solutions. We find that almost 60% of Indigenous Peoples’ lands are threatened, and among the 37 countries with the highest threat, there are multiple vulnerabilities that increase the risk of conversion. To avoid or mitigate risk to both people and nature, it will be crucial to support Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination, rights, and leadership.

Natural climate solutions are being advanced to arrest climate warming by protecting and enhancing carbon capture and storage in plants, soils, and sediments in ecosystems. These solutions are viewed as having the ancillary benefit of protecting habitats and landscapes to conserve animal species diversity. However, this reasoning undervalues the role animals play in controlling the carbon cycle. This paper presents scientific evidence showing that protecting and restoring wild animals and their functional roles can enhance natural carbon capture and storage. The authors call for new thinking that includes the restoration and conservation of wild animals and their ecosystem roles as a key component of natural climate solutions that can enhance the ability to prevent climate warming beyond 1.5 °C.

Mature and old-growth forests (MOG) of the conterminous United States collectively support exceptional levels of biodiversity but have declined substantially from logging and development. National-scale proposals to protect 30 and 50% of all lands and waters are useful in assessing MOG conservation targets given the precarious status of these forests. We present the first coast to coast spatially explicit MOG assessment based on three structural development measures—canopy height, canopy cover, and above-ground living biomass to assess relative maturity.

Governments’ over-reliance on carbon removals could push ecosystems, land rights, and food security to the brink, with new land area equivalent to 50 percent of the world’s croplands currently being required to meet targets. Climate pledges should focus on protecting and restoring existing ecosystems with carbon benefits. 

New research makes it possible to calculate the emissions generated by a company’s cash and investments (cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities). This research illuminates that this previously hidden emissions source is substantial. For some of the world’s largest companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce, their cash and investments are their largest source of emissions. In fact, for Alphabet, Meta, and PayPal, the emissions generated by their cash and investments (financed emissions) exceed all their other emissions combined

Presents detailed net-zero greenhouse gas emission pathways by 2050. Offers non-energy greenhouse gas mitigation scenarios. Provides missing link between target setting for specific industries and the measures to achieve them.

Assemblages of large mammal species play a disproportionate role in the structure and composition of natural habitats. Loss of these assemblages destabilizes natural systems, while their recovery can restore ecological integrity. Here we take an ecoregion-based approach to identify landscapes that retain their historically present large mammal assemblages, and map ecoregions where reintroduction of 1–3 species could restore intact assemblages. Intact mammal assemblages occur across more than one-third of the 730 terrestrial ecoregions where large mammals were historically present, and 22% of these ecoregions retain complete assemblages across > 20% of the ecoregion area. Twenty species, if reintroduced or allowed to recolonize through improved connectivity, can increase the area of the world containing intact large mammal assemblages by 54% (11 116 000 km2). Each of these species have at least two large, intact habitat areas (> 10 000 km2) in a given ecoregion. Timely integration of recovery efforts for large mammals strengthens area-based targets being considered under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

'Amazonia Against the Clock,' a groundbreaking report organized by COICA and published by Indigenous leaders and researchers, presents new data on deforestation and reaffirms the critical role of Indigenous peoples in protecting 80% of the Amazon by 2025.

The Renewable Target Mapping for the G20 provides an overview of the current state of renewable energy policy in G20 countries and outlines key recommendations for achieving the renewable power target of 70% by 2030. The report emphasizes the importance of setting clear and measurable targets for renewable energy and removing barriers to investment in renewable energy. It also highlights the need for collaboration among civil society, the business and financial sectors, think tanks, and politics to promote sustainable development. The report concludes by calling for increased resilience to the impacts of climate change and for actions that reflect equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

Animals influence the carbon cycle in myriad ways. Herbivores, for example, affect the exchange of carbon between ecosystems and the atmosphere through their grazing, by redistributing seeds and nutrients over vast areas of land and sea, and by trampling and compacting soils and sediments. They can have a positive impact on climate change by increasing the amount of carbon drawn down and stored in plants, preventing outbreaks of wildfire, protecting against permafrost thawing, and increasing soil and sediment-based carbon retention.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — national climate actions at the heart of the Paris Agreement — are a strategic opportunity for governments to integrate a food systems approach across their policies and programs in the name of climate mitigation. As the designated policy home where Paris signatories present how they’re going to reduce their emissions, the NDCs serve a collective way to track global progress on climate goals and signal whether global warming can stay well below the threshold of 1.5°C (2.7°F).

The 2022 Banking on Climate Chaos report is the most comprehensive analysis on fossil fuel banking produced to date. This 13th annual version of the report continues to investigate the fossil fuel financing and policies of the world’s 60 largest banks. Fossil fuel financing from the world’s 60 largest banks has reached nearly USD $4.6 trillion in the six years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, with $742 billion in 2021 alone. It also highlights case studies of bank financing for destructive fossil fuel projects and companies around the world.

Funders, impact investors, and integrated capital practitioners currently have the opportunity to catalyze momentum and reform in the US fiber and textile industry. A coordinated, strategic roadmap is critical to make the best use of integrated philanthropic and investment support. This research project drew on more than 60 interviews with fiber farmers and ranchers; processing businesses along the supply chain (mills, tanneries, etc.); brands and other supply chain experts; and funders and investors. Findings from these interviews have been synthesized and distilled into a seven-year financial Roadmap identifying five key Gaps and Levers where integrated philanthropic and investment capital would have the greatest impact in rebuilding the “missing middle” of the supply chain. In addition to the Roadmap, don't miss the 12 case studies highlighted in the report, which represent just a small slice of the innovative, place-based fiber system businesses that exist or are emerging across the country. Each one offers opportunities for funders and investors to deploy integrated capital approaches.

The role of nature restoration in mitigating the impacts of climate change is receiving increasing attention, yet the mitigation potential is often assessed in terms of carbon removal rather than the ability to meet temperature goals, such as those outlined in the Paris Agreement. Here, we estimate the global removal potential from nature restoration constrained by a “responsible development” framework and the contribution this would make to a 1.5°C temperature limit. Our constrained restoration options result in a median of 103 GtC (5%–95% range of −91 to 196 GtC) in cumulative removals between 2020 and 2100. When combined with deep-decarbonization scenarios, our restoration scenario briefly exceeds 1.5°C before declining to between 1.25°C and 1.5°C by 2100 (median, 50% probability). We conclude that additional carbon sequestration via nature restoration is unlikely to be done quickly enough to notably reduce the global peak temperatures expected in the next few decades. Land restoration is an important option for tackling climate change but cannot compensate for delays in reducing fossil fuel emissions.

Global strategies to halt the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are often formulated separately, even though they are interdependent and risk failure if pursued in isolation. The Global Safety Net maps how expanded nature conservation addresses both overarching threats. We identify 50% of the terrestrial realm that, if conserved, would reverse further biodiversity loss, prevent CO2 emissions from land conversion, and enhance natural carbon removal. This framework shows that, beyond the 15.1% land area currently protected, 35.3% of land area is needed to conserve additional sites of particular importance for biodiversity and stabilize the climate. Fifty ecoregions and 20 countries contribute disproportionately to proposed targets. Indigenous lands overlap extensively with the Global Safety Net. Conserving the Global Safety Net could support public health by reducing the potential for zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 from emerging in the future.

The involvement of financial markets is critical to delivering effective and long-lasting solutions to mitigate climate change and reverse biodiversity loss. However, financial markets have not invested in ecosystem services because these are often valued based on non-market prices, which deter investments. Based on existing carbon market prices, we value the carbon services produced by forest elephants and show that wild animals’ carbon services are valuable enough to attract investors. This framework would facilitate the financing of conservation programs and local communities and broaden the portfolio of nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change.

The peak in fossil fuel demand will have a dramatic impact on financial markets in the 2020s. The global energy system is transitioning from a system mainly based on fossil fuels to one mainly based on renewable energy sources. The shift will involve near-term peaking of fossil fuel demand, an S curve of renewable growth, and the endgame for fossil fuel demand.

The Global Deal for Nature (GDN) is a time-bound, science-driven plan to save the diversity and abundance of life on Earth. Pairing the GDN and the Paris Climate Agreement would avoid catastrophic climate change, conserve species, and secure essential ecosystem services. New findings give urgency to this union: Less than half of the terrestrial realm is intact, yet conserving all native ecosystems—coupled with energy transition measures—will be required to remain below a 1.5°C rise in average global temperature. The GDN targets 30% of Earth to be formally protected and an additional 20% designated as climate stabilization areas, by 2030, to stay below 1.5°C. We highlight the 67% of terrestrial ecoregions that can meet 30% protection, thereby reducing extinction threats and carbon emissions from natural reservoirs. Freshwater and marine targets included here extend the GDN to all realms and provide a pathway to ensuring a more livable biosphere.