A push to include nature-based solutions, like forest protection and mangrove restoration, in the outcome of climate talks in Glasgow, UK, is proving divisive.<\/b><\/p>\n
A <\/span>draft decision<\/span><\/a> published on Wednesday emphasised “the critical importance of nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches, including protecting and restoring forests, to reducing emissions, enhancing removals and protecting biodiversity”.<\/span><\/p>\n While the importance of nature featured in the negotiated outcome of Cop25 in Madrid, if adopted it would be the first time “nature-based solutions” mad<\/span>e it into a UN climate pact.<\/span><\/p>\n On Friday, the term nature-based solutions was replaced with the phrase “protecting, conserving and restoring nature” in an updated version of the text<\/a>.<\/p>\n Supporters see nature-based solutions as a way to connect the climate and biodiversity agendas, setting the scene for an effective biodiversity deal in Kunming, China next year. Critics object to the implied commodification of the natural world and say the term is misused by big business to justify continued pollution.<\/p>\n Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and an architect of the Paris Agreement, said at a press conference on Thursday that she hoped nature-based solutions would make it into the final pact. “It\u2019s good that we are going away from the vision of nature being offsets – and more towards the idea of restoration, of nature being an important element of the climate package,” she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “More and more we will see that it is impossible to distinguish between biodiversity and climate. They\u2019re two parts of the same problem,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n A space<\/strong> is opening up to discuss oil and gas exit at Cop26. Lobbyists are pushing back.\u00a0<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n An observer of the talks told Climate Home News that the UK, Colombia, France, the EU, US, Singapore, Fiji, DRC, Mexico, Norway, Australia, Canada and Liberia are all pushing for nature-based solutions to be included in the final Cop26 text.<\/span><\/p>\n At a meeting of heads of delegation on Wednesday, Bolivian negotiator Diego Pacheco Balanza objected to the phrase on behalf of the like-minded development countries (LMDCs).<\/span><\/p>\n “This text assumes that nature is only in service of people\u2019s needs, but nature has an intrinsic\u00a0<\/span>value. It is sacred. That must be reflected. ‘Nature-based solutions’ were never negotiated here,” Bolivia’s negotiator said, as reported by an <\/span>observer who attended the meeting<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n China, the host country for biodiversity talks in April, is a member of the LMDCs. The Chinese delegation did not make anyone available to comment.<\/span><\/p>\n\n