Nature's Solution to Climate Change

• Author: Ralph Chami - Thomas Cosimano - Connel Fullenkamp - and Sena Oztosun
• Position: RALPH CHAMI is an assistant director and SENA OZTOSUN is a research analyst in the IMF's Institute for Capacity Development, THOMAS COSIMANO is professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, and CONNEL FULLENKAMP is professor of the practice of economics and director at Duke University's Economics Center for ...
• Pages: 34-38

PHOTOS: ISTOCK/JAMESTEOHART; MAMMUTH

When it comes to saving the planet, one

whale is worth thousa nds of trees.

Scientic research now indicates more

clearly than ever t hat our carbon footprint—the

release of carbon dioxide (CO

2

) into the atmo sphere,

where it contributes to global warming th rough the

so-called greenhouse eect—now threatens our

ecosystems and our way of life. But eor ts to mitigate

climate change fa ce two signicant challeng es. e

rst is to nd eective ways to reduce the amount

of CO2 in the atmosphere or its impact on average

global temperature. e second is to ra ise sucient

funds to put these technologies into pract ice.

Many proposed solutions to global warming ,

such as capturing c arbon directly from the a ir

and burying it deep in t he earth, are complex,

untested, and expensive. W hat if there were a

low-tech solution to this problem that not only was

eective and economica l, but also had a successful

funding model?

An example of such an opport unity comes from

a surprisingly simple and essentially “no-tech”

strategy to capture more carbon from the atmo-

sphere: increa se global wha le populations. Mar ine

biologists have recently discovered that whales—

especially the g reat whales—play a signica nt role

in capturing ca rbon from the atmosphere (Roman

and others 2014). And international organizations

have implemented programs such as Reducing

Emissions from Degra dation and Deforestat ion

34 FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT | December 2019

A strategy to protect whales can limit greenhouse gases and global warming

Ralph Chami, Thomas Cosimano, Connel Fullenkamp, and Sena Oztosun

Nature’s Solution

TO CLIMATE CHANGE