From coffee to cosmetics, companies are looking for ways to protect the plants their products are made from

As governments and businesses make pledges to cut their carbon emissions, planting tress has become a popular solution to combat the effects of climate change. But tree-planting schemes take time and proper management to actually be effective. Many efforts have failed to take some key factors into consideration, including types of trees, location, and even community-involvement.

Deforestation, overgrazing, and increased carbon emissions are familiar challenges as climate change continues to threaten our food systems. Author Eric Toensmeier discusses how "carbon farming" - or practices such as agroforestry, improved annual crop rotation, and better grazing practices are not only good for farmers - increasing yields and reducing land degradation - but good for capturing carbon and environmental health overall. Toensmeier also discusses how to get more farmers to practice these methods: improved financial models, government support, and a certification system.

Landowners, state employees, environmental groups, and local hunters are working together to protect Hawaii’s forests and drinking water by eradicating invasive plants from the state’s protected forests. By allowing native plants to flourish, these forests could help combat climate change by sequestering carbon and allowing freshwater quivers to recharge with rainfall. Since 2013, the state has built 132 miles of fence to keep grazers away from forests to prevent the spread of seeds of invasive plants. However, this method can be expensive; a 1,400-acre fence cost over a million dollars.

Climeworks is focusing on pulling carbon dioxide directly out of the air to store or reuse in some capacity as a way to lower global greenhouse gas emissions. The Swiss company has 16 plants around Europe, with their biggest one in Switzerland that removes 900 tons of carbon dioxide a year that is then sold to Coca-Cola Co. to put in soft drinks or to local industrial greenhouses for plant growth. Scaling the operations to capture more carbon is costly, but the startup recently raised $76 million from investors.

After amassing a large amount of property in Chile, the Tompkins Conservation would donate millions of acres to the government to maintain as national parks for wildlife conservation and sustainable land use. This was the largest act of “wildlands philanthropy” in history. When the Tompkins started buying land, locals were at first distrustful, but now they’re concerned the government won’t be able to maintain the properties. Thanks to the Tompkins Conservation, wildlife, like the South Andean deer, are being reintroduced and forests have recovered.

Hydroponics works by growing plants in water without soil, fields or farms. Across the globe, this method is already being implemented as a more cost-effective way of growing food. Farmers and scientists are debating whether it will be the method of farming in the future.

U-Haul and supermarket supplier C&S Wholesale Grocers are striving to help offset their wood use by increasing donations to The Conservation Fund. This partnership has led to the promotion of the conservation of the Success Pond and its surrounding forest, the establishment of newly planted trees, and a significant investment in land easements that will restore and protect native habitats.

An economic shift to renewable energy could take decades, but thanks to rapidly evolving disruptive technologies, dropping prices of solar and wind power sources, and increasing market demand for green business, the new age of renewable energy could encompass the world economy much more quickly.

As climate change continues to threaten the survival of native plants species and the health of the eco-systems they support, the North Carolina Arboretum’s Germplasm Repository is taking a clever new approach to the preservation of native plant seeds: pushing to capitalize on their commercial value. Plant physiologists like Joe-Ann McCoy know that the best method for saving many species may also create jobs and boost local economies, when businesses start leveraging the medicinal uses of native plants for products like herbal supplements.

While international initiatives have helped curb carbon emissions in numerous sectors like forestry, manufacturing, and energy production, two of the biggest CO2 contributors have remained unchecked on the sidelines until recently: shipping and aviation. Thanks in part to the Paris Agreement, these industries are starting to be held accountable for their contributions to climate change, and to implement solutions such as improved practices and policies, biofuels, and more efficient technologies.