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We need the largest experiments on Earth to achieve our climate targets

Published Article

Global

Publication date: October 15, 2025

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Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) offer the greatest climate‑mitigation potential yet receive the least investment, largely due to limited evidence from real‑world interventions. This study proposes launching the world’s largest NCS field experiments, supported by a global data‑sharing platform and a unified ethical framework. The authors emphasize standardized reporting in MgCO₂e yr⁻¹ and clear documentation of direct and enabling actors, including financial, policy and information flows. Together, these components would create a rigorous, transparent foundation for evaluating NCS effectiveness and accelerating climate‑mitigation deployment worldwide.

Subject Tags

  • Climate mitigation
  • Natural climate solutions
  • Policy

Abstract

Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) are the climate mitigation sector with the largest potential, yet the least investment. A major barrier to scaling NCS is lack of evidence-based scientific learning at the scale of actual interventions. To overcome this gap, we propose the world’s largest field experiments, supported by a global data-sharing platform and guided by a clear framework of ethical principles and guidelines for delivering robust NCS evidence. This involves consistently reporting outcomes in units of MgCO2e $-1 yr-1 while describing direct and enabling actor groups and their financial, policy and information interactions.

Citation

Griscom, B. W., Cook‐Patton, S. C., Sills, E., Jack, K., Crowther, T. W., Costedoat, S., ... & Turner, W. R. (2025). We Need the Largest Experiments on Earth to Achieve Our Climate Targets. Global Change Biology, 31(10), e70555. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70555

TNC Authors