Double Nature: climate, nitrogen and biodiversity plan
Investors, policy makers, companies and scientists present plan to restore CO2 balance
May 25, the Double Nature Plan was presented at the Double Nature Summit in the Netherlands, a four-day event that has brought together a wide range of stakeholders.
The plan sets out a number of actions for the sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere by doubling nature. The organisers of and participants in the summit see this approach as a crucial tool in the transition to a new, regenerative economy in which prosperity is divided fairly and we live our lives within planetary boundaries.
More than 200 ambassadors have already committed themselves to the plan and started to implement it.
A solution-focused approach
The Double Nature Summit is an initiative of Climate Cleanup, a network and independent non-profit organisation that develops scalable, nature-based climate solutions. The network’s aim is to reverse the climate, nitrogen and biodiversity crisis by stopping emissions and also
restoring the carbon balance in the atmosphere and oceans. The Double Nature Plan presented today – which is in line with European policy on the subject – provides some concrete steps on how to achieve this. The plan is the result of years of research on and innovations in ocean, terrestrial, rock weathering and construction solutions.
Founder Sven Jense explains: “We have chosen to organise a summit aimed at parties that all have a different perspective but the same goal in mind – Double Nature, i.e. cleaning up CO2 by harnessing nature – and are engaged in regenerative entrepreneurship. Drawing on their expertise, we have come up with an action plan that would make it possible to sequester 1500 gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere globally. This is the same as the amount already taken up by life on earth.” Hotly-debated actions at the summit, which was organised by and with Gideon, NIOZ, Deltares, Lenteland and Tolhuistuin, include the development of partnerships between sectors (for example, farmers that produce building materials) and profiling the huge potential labour market in an economy in which nature is paramount.
First steps taken
Parties including investors, businesses, regenerative pioneers and scientists united at the summit to exchange knowledge and expertise, grow partnerships and promote innovative entrepreneurship. This was clearly a success because the first concrete steps set out in the plan have already been taken. For example, last week, Van den Borne Aardappelen announced that it was regenerating two hectares of land with bamboo, the Seaweed Company is farming seaweed in the North Sea and the SAWA building in Rotterdam is storing 2574 tons of CO2 in wood and building materials. Laura Rooseboom, the managing partner of StartGreen Capital and board member of Climate Cleanup: “To achieve a fully circular economy by 2050, decisiveness is the order of the day; this is exactly what the Double Nature Plan brings to the table. It shows not only how far entrepreneurs have already come in their transition to a new economy but also how others can do the same.”
Double Nature Plan: action points per pillar*
● Oceans | CO2 sequestration by regenerative seaweed farmers and using seaweed fertiliser in agriculture instead of chemical fertilisers. Global physical potential: the sequestration of 1000 gigatons of CO2 equivalent.
● Soil | Restoring soil health through regenerative agroforestry that fixes nitrogen and produces healthy food and building materials. Global potential: 500 gigatons of CO2 equivalent.
● Building and construction | New biobased building processes facilitate highly sustainable structures featuring wood, bamboo and fibre crops like hemp. They will help us literally build a healthy future. Global potential this century: 100 gigatons of CO2 equivalent.
● Rock weathering | The creation of fertile soil via the accelerated weathering of basalt, olivine and other rocks. Global potency based on availability: 3000 gigatons of CO2 equivalent.
* Sources: these include Atmosphere of Hope, Flannery (2015); Drawdown, Hawken (2017); Regeneration, Griscom et al. (2017); Churkina (2020); own research.