Eye on Asia | What will we say to our grandchildren, as we dither over the solution to arrest climate change that lays before our eyes?

If temperatures are allowed to rise past 1.5ºC, island countries like ours will be in grave danger, with some facing the grim prospect of being wiped off the map by rising seas. The climate impacts will affect millions of people around the world, in both developed and developing nations.

We also now know that it is already too late to keep warming to 1.5ºC by reducing global emissions alone. If we hope to meet the 1.5-degree target and save our countries from devastating impacts, we must find ways to actively remove from the air a large amount of carbon dioxide that has already been emitted.

Building a zero-carbon economy will be difficult, but we know what we must do. We must make a rapid shift from burning fossil fuels to powering economies with carbon-free energy. But how do we remove enough of the carbon dioxide that has already been emitted into the air and is already causing climate breakdown to keep the global temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees?

There are a number of ideas that involve human-engineered technology. These are still in the early stages of development, and we need to continue to explore their ultimate potential. But there is a way to remove carbon from the atmosphere right now. It is to use what are called “natural” or “nature-based” climate solutions.

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Natural climate solutions are cheap, effective and ready to deploy, because they use the power of nature rather than machines. They involve using nature to draw carbon from the atmosphere. There are numerous different approaches, but the greatest potential lies in sustainably managing marine habitats, protecting natural forests, restoring deforested and degraded lands and improving agricultural practices. All of these can create sustainable and vibrant landscapes and ecosystems while storing billions of tonnes of additional carbon.

These solutions also present some very clear and powerful opportunities for island nations like ours. We have mangroves and seagrass beds, which once were abundant. These ecosystems can be restored, extended and strengthened. Not only do they provide vital protection for our coastal infrastructure and communities, they also sequester carbon at a much greater rate than terrestrial forests.