Problem Statement

The scale and urgency of the looming and irreversible cascade of crisis in climate change, food security, and biodiversity extinction is generally underrecognized by the public, business, and government leaders. Natural systems and an aging rural agrarian population are directly affected by past overexploitation and now extreme weather. In contrast, sprawling urban centers are indirectly affected by air, water and food insecurity. This urban/rural and generational divide underlies the missed opportunity to jointly address the climate, food, and biodiversity habitat. Human civilization has been extracting fuel and fertility to grow, but there is an efficient, low-cost, renewable and regenerative solution that has been under-recognized until recently. It requires integrated, science-based efforts, coordinated at scale to restore ecosystems and draw down carbon with agriculture. Flipping the conventional paradigm of agriculture may seem difficult to accomplish, and it seems easier to take smaller, isolated steps toward “sustainability.” However, the new climate means that business as usual cannot persist. Converting degraded and eroding landscapes into productive and resilient agro-ecosystems regenerates livelihoods while storing carbon into soil. Land-based, natural climate solutions are the most technologically advanced, can be integrated at lowest cost, are the fastest to deploy and benefit agriculture, ecosystems and human livelihoods (~3B). Land-based solutions must roll out at a global scale to provide resilience and security to the most turbulent times civilization will confront. Investment in cross-training to customize and personalized regenerative landscape design principles will allow land managers and investors to implement comprehensive, yet flexible, triple-win, enduring solutions.