Royal Society Climate Change Issue – with lots of marine examples

Climate change mitigation and nature conservation both require higher protected area targets

Callum M. Roberts, Bethan C. O’Leary and  Julie P. Hawkins

Published: 27 January 2020  https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0121

Abstract

Nations of the world have, to date, pursued nature protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation policies separately. Both efforts have failed to achieve the scale of action needed to halt biodiversity loss or mitigate climate change. We argue that success can be achieved by aligning targets for biodiversity protection with the habitat protection and restoration necessary to bring down greenhouse gas concentrations and promote natural and societal adaptation to climate change. Success, however, will need much higher targets for environmental protection than the present 10% of sea and 17% of land. A new target of 30% of the sea given high levels of protection from exploitation and harm by 2030 is under consideration and similar targets are being discussed for terrestrial habitats. We make the case here that these higher targets, if achieved, would make the transition to a warmer world slower and less damaging for nature and people.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions’.

Benthic-based contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation

Martin Solan, Elena M. Bennett, Peter J. Mumby, Julian Leyland and  Jasmin A. Godbold

Published:27 January 2020  https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0107

Abstract

Innovative solutions to improve the condition and resilience of ecosystems are needed to address societal challenges and pave the way towards a climate-resilient future. Nature-based solutions offer the potential to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems while providing multiple other benefits for health, the economy, society and the environment. However, the implementation of nature-based solutions stems from a discourse that is almost exclusively derived from a terrestrial and urban context and assumes that risk reduction is resolved locally. We argue that this position ignores the importance of complex ecological interactions across a range of temporal and spatial scales and misses the substantive contribution from marine ecosystems, which are notably absent from most climate mitigation and adaptation strategies that extend beyond coastal disaster management. Here, we consider the potential of sediment-dwelling fauna and flora to inform and support nature-based solutions, and how the ecology of benthic environments can enhance adaptation plans. We illustrate our thesis with examples of practice that are generating, or have the potential to deliver, transformative change and discuss where further innovation might be applied. Finally, we take a reflective look at the realized and potential capacity of benthic-based solutions to contribute to adaptation plans and offer our perspectives on the suitability and shortcomings of past achievements and the prospective rewards from sensible prioritization of future research.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions’.

Click here to read more from this Royal Society Climate Change special issue