Land, soil, and trees make up a huge proportion of the Earth’s area, are important habitats for different species, and are sacred for many people. They help keep the Earth’s atmosphere stable by absorbing greenhouse gas emissions. Plants and some microbes absorb carbon dioxide from the air and use it to make living tissue. 

When animals eat plants, carbon forms part of the cells in their bodies. Wood continues to store carbon after a tree dies, and healthy soil stores carbon, too. When we cut down forests and let soils degrade, for example by leaving it bare and open to the elements between harvests, we end natural cycles of greenhouse gas absorption. 

Protecting and restoring forests, letting trees flourish and growing crops in a way that keeps soil healthy is essential to keeping the Earth’s systems in balance and its ecosystems thriving.

Ocean and wetland areas are precious ecosystems, part of planetary systems and rich habitats for marine life. Like all places, they are deeply affected by the climate emergency: ocean water absorbs heat and greenhouse gas emissions building up in the atmosphere. These rising temperatures and the changing water chemistry can affect marine life and surrounding habitats. 

Oceans and wetlands are also one of the few natural ways to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations. Plants that inhabit oceans, coastlines, and inland wetlands – especially peatlands – absorb carbon dioxide as they photosynthesize, storing it in their tissue, the tissues of things that eat them, and soil. 

Not only does protecting and restoring coastal and inland wetland ecosystems ensure their survival and growth, it also preserves ‘sinks’ of greenhouse gas emissions. People are looking at ways to artificially enhance ocean water’s ability to absorb carbon but water has a finite capacity for this, and it can harm ocean life.

Direct Air Capture is a proposal to build industrial facilities to capture CO2 directly from the air, which would then be compressed and pumped deep underground into stable rock formations. This process theoretically offers an opportunity to capture CO2, but it would be very energy intensive and cost a lot of money. 

New technologies and improved processes could render Direct Air Capture a useful tool in the fight against the climate emergency, but even if we can develop and scale this technology, in almost all cases it will be cheaper and easier to cut CO2 emissions at their source.