Nature has been solving problems for 3.8 billion years. Maybe it’s time we took notes.
While humanity debates carbon capture machines the size of warehouses and direct air capture facilities that cost billions to build, the planet has quietly been running the world’s most effective carbon sequestration programme all along, for free.
Nature-based climate solutions (NbS) work with biological systems to pull carbon from the atmosphere, protect communities from extreme weather, and restore biodiversity all at once. According to the World Economic Forum, they could deliver up to 30% of the mitigation needed to limit warming to 1.5°C by 2030, while receiving less than 2% of global climate finance. As a species, that ratio should embarrass us.
Anyway, here are five nature-based solutions that deserve far more of the world’s attention.
1. Forests, the OGs
You already know forests absorb carbon. What you might not appreciate is the sheer scale of what’s at stake. Tropical forests alone store more carbon than humanity has emitted in the past 30 years. When we lose them, we don’t just lose trees — we release centuries of stored carbon in a bonfire we can’t afford.
The good news? Protecting existing forests and restoring degraded ones is one of the most cost-effective climate interventions available. A 2025 study published in Nature offered new guidance on making forest-based climate solutions more rigorous and credible — a sign that the science is maturing fast and the carbon credit market for forests is getting more trustworthy.
The caveat: not all reforestation is equal. Planting monocultures of fast-growing trees is not the same as restoring a functioning forest. Biodiversity matters. Native species matter. And protecting what already exists almost always beats starting from scratch.
2. Soil, the quiet revolution underfoot
If forests are the headline act, soil is the overlooked supporting band that turns out to be the genius behind the whole operation.
Healthy soil contains more carbon than all the world’s plants and atmosphere combined. Regenerative agriculture practices, cover cropping, reduced tillage, composting, diverse crop rotations, can help soil recapture carbon at scale while also improving yields, reducing input costs, and making farms more resilient to drought. That’s an unusually good deal.
We’ve written about the quiet revolution happening under our feet and how regenerative approaches are reshaping the relationship between farming and the climate. The short version: soil isn’t just dirt. It’s infrastructure. And regenerative agriculture may be one of the most powerful climate tools farmers never knew they were sitting on.
3. Seaweed and kelp, the ocean’s fastest fix
Kelp forests grow up to 60 centimetres a day. Let that sink in. And as they grow, they pull carbon dioxide out of seawater, indirectly reducing atmospheric CO₂, while providing habitat for thousands of marine species and protecting coastlines from erosion.
Macroalgae, kelp chief among them, exports around 173 million tonnes of carbon to the deep ocean every year, making it one of the most under-appreciated carbon sinks on the planet.
Source: Krause-Jensen & Duarte (2016), Nature Geoscience — doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2790
Seaweed farming requires no freshwater, no fertiliser, and no land. Scaled thoughtfully, it could contribute meaningfully to both carbon removal and food security (seaweed is already a major food source across Asia and increasingly elsewhere).
But it’s not without complexity, the permanence of ocean carbon storage is still being studied. However, the potential is extraordinary. We dug into this one in detail: what the kelp? The ocean’s fastest growers as a climate solution. Give it a read. You’ll no doubt have a newfound respect for kelp and seaweed in general.
4. Wetlands, mangroves, and peatlands. The triple threat
Peatlands cover just 3% of the Earth’s land surface. They store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined. Mangroves sequester carbon up to four times faster than tropical rainforests per hectare. Salt marshes protect coastlines while quietly locking carbon into sediments for millennia.
“Mangrove forests alone save an estimated $80 billion per year in avoided losses from coastal flooding globally and could help protect up to 18 million people.“
These ecosystems, often dismissed as muddy, mosquito-ridden, and generally unpleasant, are among the most carbon-dense places on the planet. They are also among the most threatened, drained for agriculture, cleared for shrimp farms, and degraded by coastal development.
The logic for protecting and restoring them is overwhelming: high carbon density, exceptional biodiversity value, flood protection, water filtration, and fishery support, all in one soggy package. “Blue carbon”, the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems, is finally getting serious scientific and policy attention, and not a moment too soon.
5. Urban green infrastructure. Cities join the party
Nature-based solutions aren’t just for wilderness. Cities, home to more than half the world’s population and responsible for around 70% of global carbon emissions, are increasingly turning to green infrastructure as a tool for both mitigation and adaptation.
Urban tree canopies reduce the heat island effect, cutting energy demand for cooling. Green roofs absorb stormwater, reducing flood risk. Urban wetlands filter pollutants. Biodiverse parks and corridors support wildlife and human wellbeing simultaneously.
The climate gains from urban greening obviously won’t save the planet alone, but they make cities more liveable, reduce pressure on energy systems, and help communities adapt to the extreme heat events that are becoming more frequent and more deadly. In a world where the climate fight will be won or lost in cities, that matters enormously.
The bigger picture
Nature-based solutions are not a silver bullet, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. They work best alongside, not instead of, rapid decarbonisation, clean energy transition, and systemic change across food, transport, and industry.
But they are real, they are ready, and they are radically underinvested. Protecting and restoring natural ecosystems is one of the fastest, most cost-effective, and most co-beneficial things humanity can do right now.
The planet has the tools. We just need the sense to stop treating it like a quarry and start treating it like the partner it’s always been.
At Amandla, we help climate and impact-led businesses tell the stories that move people — and markets. If you’re working on nature-based solutions and want to communicate your impact credibly and compellingly, let’s talk.
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