Nature better than ‘sci-fi solutions’, says charity

NATURAL ways of reducing carbon emissions to zero including restoring native woodlands are better than “science fiction” climate schemes such as mirrors in space, a charity has urged.

Restoring habitats by reintroducing beavers to river systems to slow water flows and curb flooding or replanting coastal mangroves in tropical countries as storm barriers will also help protect people from the impacts of climate change.

The call from Christian Aid comes after warnings the world must cut carbon emissions to zero by 2050 to meet goals in the Paris climate deal to curb global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) and avoid the worst impacts of rising temperature.

The UK Government has asked its climate advisory committee for advice on setting a net-zero target for emissions and the European Union has set out plans for “climate neutrality” by 2050.

In a report on net-zero emissions, where any greenhouse gases that are still put into the atmosphere are “offset” by measures such as planting trees or using technology to curb warming, Christian Aid backed natural solutions.

The aid charity said UK efforts to tackle emissions should follow a similar pattern to the waste hierarchy of “reduce, reuse, recycle”.