Rarakau Rainforest Conservation Project, Southland, Aotearoa

According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the next ten years are critical for the world to avoid the catastrophic effects of global warming over 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The report reveals that warming is happening faster than expected and highlights the causal link between the global extreme weather events and this atmospheric warming. In the words of Christina Figueres, the former head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, we are ‘perched on the precipice,’ but there is reason for both ‘outrage and optimism’[1].

In the face of climate change, we need to focus on hope; on building a global movement that calls for a radical and ambitious response to climate change and on the increasing agency we have as businesses, organisations, and individuals to play our part.

The social, economic and environmental costs of inaction are finally being recognised as greater than the financial costs of change. There is an increasing recognition of the need to drastically and immediately reduce carbon emissions, as well as an increasing awareness of the biodiversity crisis and the role nature-based solutions can play in bringing the globe back into balance.

Growing and protecting native forests performs the dual function of removing and storing carbon dioxide, as well as providing habitats for native species.

This is what Ekos is here to do. Our role is to connect landowners who want to protect and restore natural ecosystems with businesses, organisations, and individuals who are committing their time and energy towards creating a climate positive future by measuring, reducing, and offsetting their carbon emissions.

With more and more joining this movement every week we feel there is a lot to be hopeful about. It is a big task, and together we can do it.

[1] Christina Figueres (2021), Outrage and Optimism, podcast episode 113: https://www.outrageandoptimism.org/episodes/times-up-we-need-everyone-to-fight-for-1-5?hsLang=en