{"id":2454840,"date":"2020-02-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=321286"},"modified":"2020-02-21T08:07:41","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T15:07:41","slug":"aspen-nonprofit-hosts-conservation-internationals-shyla-raghav-to-discuss-nature-based-climate-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-nonprofit-hosts-conservation-internationals-shyla-raghav-to-discuss-nature-based-climate-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen nonprofit hosts Conservation International\u2019s Shyla Raghav to discuss nature-based climate solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shyla Raghav<\/strong>
Nicholas Karlin\/Courtesy photo | Conservation International<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

As nations around the world work to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing climate, environmental organizations are turning to nature for solutions.<\/p>\n

Shyla Raghav, who leads Conservation International\u2019s climate strategy team, is in Aspen on Friday to discuss her use of ecosystem-based solutions to address the climate crisis.<\/p>\n

Aspen Journalism: What kinds of nature-based solutions give you hope in your work on climate change?<\/p>\n

Shyla Raghav: I would say that the most important thing that we could do is ultimately stop deforestation, not just because of the amount of carbon they store, but also because of all of the important services that we get from forests. There\u2019s so much value and so much benefit that we get from healthy, intact ecosystems.<\/p>\n

The second-most important pathway is restoration or reforestation. The only technology that we have to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at scale, at the global level, is a tree.<\/p>\n

AJ: Those solutions sound rather simple, but, of course, economics, politics and social concerns get in the way. What are some of the key strategies that you have to implement those two ideas?<\/p>\n

SR: Ultimately, we need to make forests more valuable standing than cut down. Right now, that\u2019s not the case. There\u2019s a number of different innovative solutions that are being implemented and tested around the world, like carbon credits. It\u2019s about putting a price on the carbon in those forests.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also demand-side measures. One of the largest drivers of deforestation is the consumption of beef, for example. So, reducing the demand for beef is also a solution.<\/p>\n

Another type of solution that we also look at is certification of commodities, so the largest driver of deforestation in Southeast Asia is the expansion of palm oil. One of the solutions that\u2019s being promoted in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia is to certify that the palm oil that\u2019s on the market doesn\u2019t come with a deforestation footprint.<\/p>\n

AJ: You\u2019ve also worked in developing countries. How has working with developing countries affected your view of or your attitude toward climate change?<\/p>\n

SR: I think working in developing countries has really influenced and informed my career. I\u2019m originally from India, but I\u2019ve had the opportunity to work in Thailand and in the Caribbean. Those experiences taught me to understand the human impact of climate change.<\/p>\n

Working with and interacting with people who are literally on the front lines of climate change \u2014 that are at risk of losing their homes or already have lost their homes \u2014 is something that\u2019s really instilled within me the urgency of acting on climate change, but also the moral responsibility that we have to do whatever we can as soon as possible to avoid and prevent the worst impacts of climate change, which are increasingly becoming inevitable, whether it\u2019s sea-level rise or increased intensity of storms.<\/p>\n

AJ: As you mentioned, quite a few of the consequences of climate change might, at this point, be unavoidable. What is the balance of working toward solutions to the climate crisis and adapting to this new reality?<\/p>\n

SR: It\u2019s a matter of urgently accelerating both mitigation and adaptation.<\/p>\n

The decisions that we\u2019re making right now are going to impact the next hundred years. The effects of climate change that we\u2019re experiencing today are a result of the past hundred years of emissions.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re really at a point of no return. Change is our new normal, but we can prevent climate change from causing irreparable harm to our planet.<\/p>\n

I would say that it\u2019s really important that we think both about how we reduce our emissions, but also think about how we develop in a smarter, more resilient way as well.<\/p>\n

Aspen Journalism collaborates with Aspen Public Radio and The Aspen Times on coverage of environmental issues. More at aspenjournalism.org.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shyla RaghavNicholas Karlin\/Courtesy photo | Conservation International As nations around the world work to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing climate, environmental organizations are turning to nature for solutions. Shyla Raghav, who leads Conservation International\u2019s climate strategy team, is in Aspen on Friday to discuss her use of ecosystem-based solutions to address the climate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 14:14:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2454853,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454840\/revisions\/2454853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}