Oceans, carbon markets, nature-based solutions and the youth movement are being regarded as the headlining issues of this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid. But underpinning all of these is a broader topic that has been growing into its own skin lately and is heading toward center stage in climate talks: ecosystem restoration.
Following upon the adoption of the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration by the General Assembly in March, and preluding next year’s COP 26 when countries will be increasing their commitments to reducing emissions and tackling climate change, the topic of restoring degraded ecosystems back to health has been gaining clout as a way to limit global warming, protect biodiversity and bring economic benefits to communities and economies at once.
On the sidelines of the negotiations in Madrid, Landscape News spoke with Musonda Mumba, chief of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Unit of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) about why restoration is headed toward being the next big thing.