Can we decarbonise while degrading Earth's largest carbon stores? What are the carbon and community costs of delaying the land transition?
Rural landscapes play a vital role in tackling climate change. Forests, peatlands, grasslands and healthy soils store enormous amounts of carbon while supporting biodiversity, food production, clean water and resilient rural communities. Yet deforestation, land degradation and unsustainable farming continue to release this stored carbon, making climate change harder to address. The energy transition therefore cannot succeed without transforming how we manage land. Protecting and restoring landscapes not only reduces emissions but also strengthens the natural systems that people and economies depend on.
This lab explores how rural landscapes can deliver multiple benefits at the same time via carbon sinks, productive food systems and thriving ecosystems. It will examine the standards, monitoring and verification systems needed to build trust in landscape carbon projects, alongside the governance structures that ensure local communities share fairly in the benefits. The session will also explore how high-integrity carbon finance can work alongside public, philanthropic and private investment to support long-term landscape restoration rather than simply offset emissions elsewhere. Drawing on the experiences of organisations working in this field, the discussion will highlight practical approaches to financing resilient and regenerative rural landscapes.
