Nature and Net Zero

The report argues that natural climate solutions (NCS) are essential for reaching a 1.5°C or 2°C pathway, with a practical abatement potential of 6.7 Gt CO2 per year by 2030. It identifies key barriers—including a lack of consensus on corporate net-zero claims, insufficient market infrastructure, and regulatory uncertainty—and proposes five key actions to unlock the potential of NCS. These include defining corporate claims, highlighting best practices, sending a demand signal, improving market architecture, and creating regulatory clarity to build trust among public and private stakeholders.

• Natural climate solutions (NCS) have a 'practical' abatement potential of approximately 6.7 Gt CO2 per year by 2030, which could deliver about one-third of the net emission reductions required to reach a 1.5°C or 2°C pathway by that date.
• The bulk of the practical NCS potential is derived from four primary types of solutions: reforestation, cover crops, peatland restoration, and avoided deforestation and peatland impact.
• NCS are generally low-cost carbon abatement options, typically ranging between $10 and $40 per ton of CO2, making them more affordable than technology-based removal solutions.
• The majority of low-cost NCS potential is located in the Global South, particularly in forest-rich countries, which presents an opportunity to generate private capital flows to these regions.
• NCS provide significant environmental and social co-benefits beyond carbon sequestration, including biodiversity conservation, improved soil health, water quality protection, and the creation of local jobs.
• The scale of NCS is currently limited by a lack of consensus on how companies should define and make net-zero claims, which curtails demand for credits.
• Technical hurdles for credit originators include a lack of up-front project finance due to the pay-for-performance nature of credits, unclear land rights in remote locations, and high verification costs, especially for soil carbon.
• Market infrastructure for NCS is underdeveloped, characterized by a lack of transparent pricing data, a proliferation of different standards, and a shortage of intermediaries to aggregate supply for large emitters.
• There is a need to transition from standalone project-level approaches to 'nested' jurisdictional-level programmes to ensure environmental integrity, avoid double counting, and prevent leakage.

APA

World Economic Forum (2021). Nature and Net Zero. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Consultation_Nature_and_Net_Zero_2021.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Nature and Net Zero. 2021. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Consultation_Nature_and_Net_Zero_2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Nature and Net Zero |date=May 2021 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Consultation_Nature_and_Net_Zero_2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2021nature, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Nature and Net Zero}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Consultation_Nature_and_Net_Zero_2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }