Thread by @DrRobBellamy

Unnatural climate solutions? Why the hype around ‘natural’ climate solutions threatens us all. New commentary by me and @shannonosaka in @NatureClimate nature.com/articles/s4155… @GeographyUOM @InSIS @SERG_Geog_UoM @UoM_MERI #Cop25Madrid2019 #COP25 #ClimateChange

@shannonosaka @NatureClimate @GeographyUOM @InSIS @SERG_Geog_UoM @UoM_MERI Natural climate solutions are rapidly rising up the #ClimateAction agenda with promises of lower costs, greater readiness and fewer risks than emerging technologies for carbon removal like BECCS or @DKeithClimate’s direct air capture and storage

@shannonosaka @NatureClimate @GeographyUOM @InSIS @SERG_Geog_UoM @UoM_MERI @DKeithClimate They (tree planting in particular) feature prominently in UK election manifestos on the #ClimateEmergency, with Labour pledging an ‘ambitious’ amount, Tories 75k p.a., Lib Dems 60 million p.a., and Greens 700 million by 2030 via @CarbonBrief

@shannonosaka @NatureClimate @GeographyUOM @InSIS @SERG_Geog_UoM @UoM_MERI @DKeithClimate @CarbonBrief Natural climate solutions have been advertised by people like @GretaThunberg

@shannonosaka @NatureClimate @GeographyUOM @InSIS @SERG_Geog_UoM @UoM_MERI @DKeithClimate @CarbonBrief @GretaThunberg And @GeorgeMonbiot

@shannonosaka @NatureClimate @GeographyUOM @InSIS @SERG_Geog_UoM @UoM_MERI @DKeithClimate @CarbonBrief @GretaThunberg @GeorgeMonbiot The idea of natural climate solutions has inspired many initiatives including for @nature_org @NCS_catalyst @MarketsNcs @Nature4Climate @NatureBasedSols @WWFForestCarbon @wbcsd @wef @bp_plc @ClimateCare @NatCapCoalition @Shell

@shannonosaka @NatureClimate @GeographyUOM @InSIS @SERG_Geog_UoM @UoM_MERI @DKeithClimate @CarbonBrief @GretaThunberg @GeorgeMonbiot @nature_org @NCS_catalyst @MarketsNcs @Nature4Climate @NatureBasedSols @WWFForestCarbon @wbcsd @wef @bp_plc @ClimateCare @NatCapCoalition @Shell But what if natural climate solutions were not as natural as they might seem?

Nature is social: people, acting in social groups, decide the boundaries of what is deemed natural and what is not. It creates a conflated binary choice between the allegedly natural and unnatural 8/n

This is crucial because when something is framed as being natural, it is seen as more desirable than something that is presented or implied as being unnatural 9/n

Take for example @AJCorner’s research on direct air capture and storage, which when presented as ‘like artificial trees’, is viewed significantly more favourably than when presented as a chemical process involving large industrial machinery link.springer.com/article/10.100…

@AJCorner But natural framings can’t provide answers for all our climate policy dilemmas. Labelling some solutions as natural and others as artificial belies the reality that all lie somewhere in between

Also, for some reason this Pusheen gif has an #anthropocene hashtag

@AJCorner Natural climate solutions also suffer from a great deal of hype, e.g. the recent controversy where it was claimed that tree planting alone could sequester 205 GtC, which has now been shown to be an estimate five times too large science.sciencemag.org/content/366/64… 12/n

@AJCorner Add to this limitations from land area requirements, risks to biodiversity and uncertainties around the monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas stocks and fluxes and natural climate solutions might not be as desirable as they first appear 13/n

@AJCorner Framing this select set of climate solutions as natural, and thus inherently more desirable, dangerously narrows the range of climate solutions deemed attractive to policymakers 14/n

@AJCorner We therefore have three recommendations for scientists and policymakers with respect to how the natural framing of climate solutions is used (and abused) #Cop25Madrid2019 15/n

@AJCorner And here is the free to access ReadCube version rdcu.be/bYFH2 #overandout