Natural climate solutions can have a positive impact on mitigating climate change while also providing additional benefits in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Benefits include economic growth and diversification, improvement of human health and livelihood and protection of biodiversity and water resources.
Ipieca promotes a nature conservation mitigation hierarchy framework of avoid, minimise, restore, offset. Members are working with local communities and conservation organisations to protect and restore high carbon stock ecosystems, such as wetlands and mangroves.
PTTEP is addressing GHG emissions through nature-based solutions, focusing on reforestation, conservation, and sustainable land management.
Mangrove and land forestation
PTTEP has accumulated 5,007.15 rai (1980 acres) for mangrove reforestation, with 4,007.15 rai (1584 acres) registered under the Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction Programme (T-VER). The tree survival rate exceeds 85%. In land forestation, PTTEP collaborates with key agencies:
In 2024, PTTEP secured government approval to conserve and restore 109,370 rai (43241 acres) across 17 provinces, enhancing biodiversity and generating over USD 4.4 million in community income. Research with Kasetsart University found an 89% tree survival rate, surpassing the 80% benchmark.
GHG offsetting and agricultural initiatives
PTTEP aims to restore 200,000 rai (79074 acres) by 2030, integrating offsetting frameworks and carbon credit management to mitigate greenwashing risks. Additionally, PTTEP explores GHG reduction and sequestration in agriculture through FSC-certified rubber plantations and biochar production.
With over 3,400 conservation network members and a Social Return on Investment (SROI) of 5.46:1, PTTEP’s initiatives bridge gaps in climate policy and partnerships, reinforcing its commitment to sustainability.
In November 2024, Petrobras and BNDES formed a new partnership for the Restaura Amazônia programme, committing R$100 million for ecological restoration in the Amazon over the next five years. Half of this amount will be contributed by the Amazon Fund. The partnership aims to restore approximately 15,000 hectares of native vegetation across the Legal Amazon, focusing on critical regions such as the Arc of Deforestation. By transforming this area into an 'Arc of Restoration', the programme seeks to mitigate climate change, conserve biodiversity, and generate local employment opportunities.
Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard emphasised the company’s long-standing commitment to supporting conservation and restoration projects, particularly those based on nature-based solutions. These solutions not only preserve biodiversity but also foster positive social transformations for local communities. The programme, in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, is set to enhance the restoration of forests, protect indigenous lands, and support small rural properties. It will also contribute to the National Plan for the Recovery of Native Vegetation.
Additionally, Petrobras and BNDES announced projects for the restoration of biomes in the Cerrado and Pantanal under the Floresta Viva initiative. The selected projects, funded with R$58.6 million, will restore over 2,700 hectares and enhance biodiversity corridors, particularly in areas impacted by drought and fires. These efforts aim to promote ecological restoration and stimulate local economies through job creation.
Through these partnerships, Petrobras continues to demonstrate its dedication to environmental restoration and sustainable development, with significant investments that benefit both ecosystems and local communities.
While Sonangol does not operate directly in protected areas, the Company acknowledges the impact of its activities on the local ecosystem and biodiversity. As a voluntary initiative, Sonangol E.P. launched the five-year Blue Carbon Project in 2021 in partnership with the Otchiva NGO, with an annual USD 240 000 investment.
This project contributes to environmental conservation and strategic climate action initiatives by reforesting mangrove areas, reducing GHG emissions and increasing ecosystem resilience. During 2022, an estimated 190 000 mangrove sprouts were planted on 11.6 hectares in Luanda. This project is part of a bigger strategy of Sonangols E.P. towards offsetting its carbon emissions, contributing to the achievement of greenhouse gas emissions reduction at a country level, and the restoration and maintenance of mangroves, a vital ecosystem to marine species and the livelihood of Angolan communities.
For more than a decade, ADNOC has adopted nature-based solutions to protect, sustainably manage and restore nature in ways that address societal challenges such as loss of biodiversity, climate change and human wellbeing.
Mangroves are critical in preventing coastal erosion. They are home to a diverse range of marine life, and able to sequester CO2. Mangroves are an important nature-based solution to mitigating climate change.
ADNOC are committed to planting 10 million mangroves by 2030, helping to restore these natural carbon sinks. Using drone technology developed in the UAE, ADNOC planted 2.5 million mangrove seeds in 2023. The germination and growth of the mangroves is being monitored and ADNOC will continue to replenish where needed to achieve the goal of 2.5 million mangroves over three years. The approach is aligned with the United Nations conventions on conserving biodiversity. An extensive volunteer programme has been part of the mangrove planting initiative, with opportunities for volunteers to participate at each point of the planting process, from picking seeds to monitoring the growth of the mangroves.
In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a region highly vulnerable to climate change, Kosmos Energy partnered with Tierra Resources, a Louisiana-based non-profit focused on wetlands restoration and the development of blue carbon capture projects. Tierra's mission is to conserve, protect, and restore coastal wetland ecosystems by creating innovative solutions that support investment in wetlands.
The partnership launched a Climate Mitigation Workforce in 2021 (now the Louisiana Coastal Restoration Workforce), with two objectives:
Forty-five members participated in four Coastal Education Workshops about the wetland ecosystem and the role it plays in protecting the Mississippi River Corridor from hurricanes and the impacts of climate change. The workshops combined classroom training with field activities in areas with healthy, degrading and ghost ecosystems to highlight the need to protect wetlands and prevent erosion.
The Workforce also engaged with local nurseries to learn about efforts to restore vulnerable areas, then then applied their knowledge by planting 900 trees in areas on the Louisiana coast identified by the partnership as most suitable for restoration.
The next cohort of the Workforce will monitor the seedlings and assess their impact on ecosystem resilience and potential for blue-carbon projects.
Hess is donating USD 50 million over the next five years to the Salk Institute's Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI), which aims to combat climate change by developing plants' natural ability to capture and store potentially billions of tons of carbon per year from the atmosphere.
In 2020, Hess donated USD 12.5 million to accelerate development of plant-based carbon capture and storage through the institute's two programs: CO2 Removal on a Planetary Scale (CRoPS) and Coastal Plant Restoration (CPR). The CRoPS programme aims to increase suberin content – a carbon rich polymer found in plant roots – in common crops such as wheat, rice and corn with the goal to absorb and store significant amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. The CPR project is focused on restoration and preservation of wetlands, which are significant carbon sinks. The project aims to develop wetland plants that can hold carbon, purify water, preserve land and thrive in challenging environments around the world.
Since then, the HPI team has made numerous advances in enhancing desired plant traits, including deeper rooting and the ability to sequester carbon, and is rapidly scaling discoveries from laboratory to greenhouse to field.
Good practice guidance, awareness briefings and webinars to support high carbon stock ecosystems management.
| Title | Type | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Natural climate solutions: high carbon stock ecosystems management | Good practice guidance | |
 | The role of carbon-compensated products in the energy transition | Awareness brief | |
View the Ipieca Principles toolkit and Ipieca-WBCSD SDG Roadmap for more suggested actions, useful resources and reference points.