Nature conservation and climate change mitigation efforts are closely linked. Rapid climate change could cause global loss of biodiversity and habitats. Nature, just like human society, needs time to adapt to changing climate conditions. In the meantime, well thought-out conservation measures are a cost-effective way of mitigating climate change and shielding humanity from extreme weather events and natural disasters. When it comes to providing safety from river or coastal flooding, for example, or a secure water supply in times of drought, a nature-based solution often costs less than the engineered alternative. Such a solution might take the form of conserving and restoring river floodplains, conserving and managing forest, or conserving and restoring natural coastal ecosystems and floodlands.  
A two-pronged approach is therefore needed, consisting of conserving and restoring ecosystems in their natural functions (such as water storage and retention to prevent flooding) and of cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
Efforts to cushion the anticipated effects of climate change focus today on projects either to cut emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide or to take these gases out of circulation and store them – known as carbon capture and storage (CCS). This involves both the more efficient use of fuels, for example by using combined heat and power (CHP) in new power stations, and in some cases a move away from energy-intensive activities. The burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) is also being reduced by substituting such fuels with energy crops. This conserves fossil energy resources and releases less carbon dioxide, because burning energy crops only sets free carbon taken up during their growth. But as will be seen below, all that glisters is not gold: Biomass production must meet nature conservation criteria as well as delivering proven carbon savings.
A second aspect currently under international negotiation consists of boosting the quantity of carbon stored in ecosystems. This is seen as a way of cutting the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and hence of slowing climate change. Nature is a major ‘service provider’ in greenhouse gas storage, with natural ecosystems, both marine and terrestrial, constituting the largest global carbon sinks. On land, vegetation growth, the formation of peat in bogs and fens and the formation of humus in natural grasslands (steppe, prairie and pampas) and forests (especially boreal and nemoral forests) take carbon out of circulation and store it. Notably, over 30 percent of all carbon stored in soils is locked up in peat, even though peatlands only account for about three percent of the global land area. This is as much carbon as is contained in terrestrial biomass. It is therefore important to conserve, protect and where possible restore natural carbon sinks.
In establishing new carbon sinks, reforestation projects are a major focus of interest as they count towards meeting countries’ commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. A new incentive mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) is currently being developed under the umbrella of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Substantial investment in REDD projects can probably be expected in the next few years. These projects may well have a positive impact on biodiversity. For example, targeted renaturalisation and more intensive management can be applied in many regions to improve ecological networks and hence boost biodiversity.