HCSA at COP26 to profile the importance of taking action to support credible Nature-based Solutions to climate change.
The UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), Conference of the Parties (COP) 26, will be held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November and will bring world governments together, along with other global stakeholders, to hopefully commit to accelerated real action to address the climate crisis. This conference is hosted by the UK COP26 Presidency which will aim to galvanise world leaders to conserve forests as a key Nature-based Solution to climate change. It is widely recognised by science[1] that conserving and restoring nature has a critical role to play in limiting global warming to 1.5°C and will also reduce biodiversity loss and build climate impacts and community livelihoods resilience.
En High Carbon Stock Approach is acknowledged as a Nature-based solution to climate change by the United Nations. The HCSA effectively identifies tropical forest areas that are under threat from deforestation due to commodity production expansion. By protecting rather than converting, these forest areas and the carbon they contain are conserved along with other ecosystem services and social values; the natural system is maintained to allow continued sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere. As of September 2021, over 3.3 million hectares of land had been subject to assessments using the HCSA methodology, with over 635,000 hectares of HCS forests identified. These forest areas are in the process of being or have been set aside by companies for conservation. The above-ground biomass in these conservation areas is estimated to hold over 52.3 million tonnes of carbon. To learn more about HCSA as a rights-based approach to conserving tropical natural forests and its contributions as a Nature-based solution to climate change see aquí.
We are exhibiting the HCSA as Putting No Deforestation into Practice and A Nature-Based Solution Contributor during COP 26. If you are joining the conference, please come to visit HCSA’s booth by clicking on the HCSA logo on the COP26 platform in the virtual exhibit section. If you are interested in meeting HCSA representatives at COP26 please outreach to HCSA at info@highcarbonstock.org.
[1] Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). IPBES-IPCC co-sponsored workshop report on biodiversity and climate change. 2021. IPCC. Global Warming of 1.5°C. 2018. IPBES. Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services. 2019. IPCC. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. 2021.
