Tunnel vision has overshadowed the need to cool the planet

Rob de Laet is a principal member of the EcoRestoration Alliance and fellow of the Global Evergreening Alliance. Together with Peter Bunyard and others – he is developing the Cooling Climate Chaos project, to reverse the climate crisis fast. Working from the Lovelockian Gaia perspective to restore the Earth’s metabolisms through the restoration of the water cycles and regeneration of the biosphere. Three tipping points need to be averted right now to avoid wholesale civilizational collapse: the dieback of the Amazon Rainforest, the collapse of ocean biology and the collapse of Arctic Sea ice. This can be done if the world wakes up and acts at the speed and scale needed.

Dutch born Rob is a world traveller, serial-entrepreneur, building an international eco-tourism company with partnerships in seventeen countries, philosopher, climate activist, rewilding a damaged part of the Brazilian rainforest and working to avert the dieback of the Amazon Rainforest by strengthening the biotic pump over the area.

PG: Your diagnosis of the current malady?

RDL: Our planet’s natural cooling mechanisms are severely impaired, primarily due to the widespread destruction of ecosystems. While mainstream climate science focuses heavily on carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases, it often overlooks the critical role that living ecosystems, particularly forests, play in regulating the Earth’s temperature. The process of evapotranspiration, where plants release water vapor through their leaves, is a powerful cooling mechanism. This process not only helps to cool the air directly but also contributes to cloud formation, which further reflects sunlight and reduces warming. The degradation of these natural systems has disrupted this cooling cycle, leading to increased global temperatures and more extreme weather events. In essence, we’ve damaged the planet’s ability to cool itself.

PG: What’s your prescription in ‘Cooling Climate Chaos: A Proposal to Cool the Planet within Twenty Years’ – your book with Peter Bunyard?

RDL: Our prescription is a global, coordinated effort to restore the Earth’s natural cooling systems by regenerating ecosystems at scale. This involves strategic reforestation, restoring degraded lands, and supporting smallholder farmers and Indigenous communities to transition to regenerative practices. The effect is largest in the tropics as more sunlight comes in, so the focus should largely be there.

We propose a comprehensive plan that focuses on enhancing the water cycle through increased vegetation cover, which can stabilize temperatures and even reverse warming within two decades. Our approach also includes ocean restoration, which is critical for sequestering carbon and restoring marine ecosystems that play a vital role in cooling the planet also through cloud forming and creating precipitation. It’s a holistic strategy that addresses the root causes of climate instability by leveraging the Earth’s inherent capabilities to regulate its own climate if we support and allow the ecosystems to recover fast.

PG: Isn’t there an excessive focus on decarbonisation?

RDL: While decarbonization is essential, it’s only part of the solution. The excessive tunnel vision focus on reducing carbon emissions has overshadowed the need to restore and protect the biosphere, which regulates our climate through the water cycle. Decarbonization addresses the symptoms of climate change, but without repairing the damage to our ecosystems, we won’t address the underlying causes. The Earth’s natural systems, when healthy, can absorb and neutralize carbon far more effectively than any artificial means. We must balance our efforts by focusing not only on reducing emissions but also on restoring the natural processes that keep the planet cool and stable.

PG: Are the oceans receiving due attention? How do you restore their biology?

RDL: The oceans have not received the attention they deserve in climate discussions. Oceans are crucial to the Earth’s climate system, acting as both a carbon sink and a regulator of global temperatures. To restore ocean biology, we need to implement large-scale marine ecosystem restoration projects, including the revival of coastal habitats like mangroves and seagrass beds, which sequester significant amounts of carbon. Additionally, we must address overfishing, pollution, and sedimentation that disrupt marine life. Restoring phytoplankton levels, which form the base of the oceanic food chain and play a key role in carbon sequestration, is also critical. They also trigger zooplankton blooms which take better care of the vertical mixing of the ocean water column, making surface waters cooler. By restoring these ecosystems, we can enhance the ocean’s capacity to absorb carbon and cool the planet.

PG: Any thoughts on slowing the Arctic and Antarctica meltdown?

RDL: Slowing the melting of polar regions requires urgent action on multiple fronts. One approach is to restore large, forested areas globally, which can enhance the biotic pump – a process where forests draw moisture inland from the oceans, increasing precipitation and cooling the land. This can help stabilize the jet streams and weather patterns that are currently contributing to polar warming. While this is not researched science I am pretty sure that if the Midwest of the US would have more forested areas, the moisture streams pulled in from the Gulf of Mexico would travel much further north. Thereby leading to more snow in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland, increasing their albedo, cooling the area reflectively, decreasing with that polar amplification and straightening and speeding up the Arctic Jetstream which would keep the Arctic cooler. This will keep permafrost better frozen and result into less meandering Rossby waves that now lead to extreme weather in the temperate regions. And even to things like massive flooding in Pakistan while in Russia the forests were burning and the wheat harvest were withering under drought and heat.

Additionally, we should explore Nature-based solutions (NbS) like enhancing cloud cover over the poles through marine cloud brightening, which could reflect more sunlight and slow the melting. If we increase global cloud cover by 1-2 percent the Earth Energy Imbalance would be solved and the Earth would not warm up any longer. While these methods may buy us time, the ultimate solution lies in reducing the Earth’s overall energy imbalance by restoring ecosystems worldwide.

PG: Given your exposure, do you see Global South leading the world out of the current mess?

RDL: I see a lot of positive energy among the youth, especially in large Asian countries and Africa. I think they can lead the way to regenerative climate restoration. Also the Indigenous folks and the large armies of rural small holders, if they get the chance would grab the opportunity to restore nature and their degraded lands, because they understand the land and food production very well, unlike the urban population who has no clue.

The Indigenous people often view the Earth as a living organism that must be nurtured, rather than a resource to be exploited. Many Indigenous cultures in the Global South have long understood the importance of maintaining harmony with nature, which aligns closely with our proposals for climate restoration. These regions are also where some of the most effective, large-scale ecological restoration projects can take place, particularly in the tropics, where vegetation has a powerful cooling effect. With the right support, the Global South could indeed lead the world in implementing the necessary changes to restore our planet’s climate. Their leadership, grounded in traditional knowledge and innovative practices, could set a powerful example for the rest of the world.

PG: Many thanks Rob for sharing your prescription to cool down an overheated and damaged biosphere. All good wishes in your endeavour.