Net Zero Festival: Nature-based solutions - can business help enhance nature?

BusinessGreen staff
clock • 1 min read

VIDEO: James Murray chats to Woodland Trust CEO Darren Moorcroft, CISL's Dr Gemma Cranston, and Tetra Pak's Charles Brand about the need to scale nature protection and restoration projects to reach net zero

Nature isn't often associated with innovation. Yet it is an area where new approaches are urgently needed in order to build a net zero emission economy.

There is, after all, no path to net zero that doesn't involve an expansion in nature, which is essential even before considering added benefits such as improved flood resilience, better soil and air quality, and of course reduced pandemic risks. 

But what are so-called 'nature-based solutions'? How effective are they are drawing down CO2 and boosting nature's resilience? And how can the UK scale up efforts and market measures to support the restoration and protection of forests, peatland, mangroves and biodiversity?

Drilling down into these issues in more depth at BusinessGreen's recent Net Zero Festival, editor in chief James Murray spoke to figures at several organisations at the forefront of scaling natural carbon capture efforts: Woodland Trust CEO Darren Moorcroft; Dr Gemma Cranston, director for business and nature at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL); and Charles Brand, Tetra Pak president for Europe and Central Asia.

The discussion - which touches on the challenges, opportunities, investment and policies associated with nature-based solutions - is available to watch again in full above.

All of the panel debates, keynote speeches, and presentations from the world's first Net Zero Festival - which took place over three days from 30 September featuring hundreds of top speakers from business, politics and academia - are now available to watch again on demand through the Net Zero Festival website.

Woodland Trust is a partner of the Net Zero Festival.

More on Carbon Trading

Amazon opens up carbon credit service to British businesses

Amazon opens up carbon credit service to British businesses

EXCLUSIVE: UK-based firms with credible net zero targets in place can now purchase carbon offset, inset, and removal credits through the US tech giant's online platform

Michael Holder
clock 10 June 2026 • 3 min read
Can the carbon removal market scale up to meet future demand?

Can the carbon removal market scale up to meet future demand?

National pledges fall short of Paris Agreement warming thresholds by more than five billion tonnes of CO2 per year by 2050, report warns, and carbon removals could struggle to fill the gap

Stuart Stone
clock 03 June 2026 • 9 min read
Gold Standard launches next-generation carbon credit registry

Gold Standard launches next-generation carbon credit registry

Updated carbon registry platform delivered in partnership with Trovio aims to improve connectivity with national registries, while maintaining full traceability of credits

clock 14 May 2026 • 2 min read