Act for Nature and Climate – Beyond Silos

12/11/2025

To address the climate and environmental crises, COP30 must move beyond siloed action. The 1.5 °C limit and ecosystem restoration targets are mutually reinforcing guardrails for a safe and just future, according to an upcoming paper by Earth Commission scientists.

This year’s climate COP – held in the Brazilian city of Belém in the Amazon rainforest – comes as global warming nears 1.5 °C and biodiversity loss accelerates. 

In a recent study, Commissioner Dr. Steven Lade, from Australian National University, and Earth Commission colleagues analyzed what the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework have to say about the interactions between climate and biodiversity. 

– We found that there is recognition of the interactions in both texts – that’s good, it provides a solid foundation for joint governance. But the recognition is superficial, and especially the Paris Agreement recognises co-benefits of climate action for biodiversity but not the feedbacks where failure to act on climate domain can impact biodiversity negatively, says Steven Lade.  

Treating climate and biodiversity separately is risky

The analysis shows that restoring ecosystems strengthens carbon sinks, while unchecked warming degrades ecosystems. These feedbacks can either accelerate progress or derail it. COP30 must seize this moment to integrate climate and biodiversity governance – treating them separately is a recipe for failure.

These interactions create what the researchers call a “climate-biodiversity funnel” that they propose for policy makers to use as a guide to choose the right kinds of actions. 

– This is a zone where actions accelerate progress toward both agreements’ goals. Actions outside this funnel risk amplifying trade-offs and undermining global targets, Steven Lade explains.

Actions that sequester more than 0.5 Gt carbon dioxide per million hectares of land restored, are within the funnel. The team specifically looked at BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage), countries’ emission reduction targets contributing to the Paris Agreement (NDCs) and food system transformation towards a more plant based diet in line with the EAT Lancet report. 

A healthy diet can take us towards the goals

– The dietary transformation proposed by the EAT Lancet report would take us into the funnel. It would involve both restoration of land, since there would be a reduced demand for agriculture, and reduced carbon emissions. This is the sweet spot where we are taking action on both climate and biodiversity that then accelerates and creates positive feedbacks that triggers a virtuous cycle, says Steven Lade.

In contrast, current NDCs lie outside the funnel – they would lock in at least 2.6 °C warming and minimal restoration, pushing us away from global goals. With BECCS, which are projects where the carbon dioxide emissions from biofuels are permanently stored, there are some positive impacts on climate but this “solution” would require improvement in efficiency as the current methods requires a lot of land to grow the bioenergy crops.

Steven Lade and co-authors, including Earth Commissioners Peter Verburg, Fabrice DeClerck, Aditi Mukherji, David Obura and Tim Lenton as well as Co-Chair Johan Rockström, urge negotiators in Belém and other policy makers to treat climate and biodiversity as one integrated system. This could be done through:

• Integrated climate and biodiversity governance—for example, through a joint UNFCCC–UNCBD work programme.
• Recognition of climate-biodiversity interactions in negotiations, policy and research
• Embedding ecosystem-based adaptation as a core strategy.
• Aligning NDCs and biodiversity targets to maximize co-benefits.
• Mobilizing finance for integrated solutions, not siloed projects.
• Use science-based heuristics like the funnel to guide negotiations and avoid trade-offs.

For the authors, the science is clear: restoring ecosystems and cutting emissions together accelerates progress toward global goals. This is the decade of delivery, and integration is the key.

Read more about the Earth Commissions engagement at COP30 here.