Innovative Conservation and Energy Solutions Can Drive Climate Progress
London Climate Action Week is an opportunity to highlight success in global climate goals – and push for more
From 20 to 28 June, on the banks of the River Thames in London, more than 75,000 international leaders, business executives, scientists and members of civil society will gather for London Climate Action Week (LCAW) to seek practical solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns.
The opportunity is clear: Addressing climate change requires reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as strengthening natural systems that help absorb carbon and support communities as they adapt and build resilience.
No single solution can address all environmental challenges. Progress depends on combining creative conservation strategies with modern, reliable clean energy systems. That integrated approach is at the heart of climate and conservation work at The Pew Charitable Trusts. At LCAW, representatives of Pew will highlight examples of how both nature-based solutions and energy innovation can help countries meet their climate goals.
Coastal wetland conservation plans are critical nature-based solutions
Among the world’s natural ecosystems, coastal wetlands play a key role in reducing emissions and the negative impacts of a changing climate. They are the only marine ecosystems recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the measurable amount by which they can help countries reduce their emissions. These wetlands are also critical to fisheries and to livelihoods and food security in coastal communities.
Key facts about coastal wetlands:
- Half of all carbon is buried in ocean sediments.
Coastal wetlands are some of the most efficient carbon stores on the planet. They make up less than 5% of global land area and less than 2% of the ocean, yet per hectare they store carbon at levels up to five times higher than those observed in terrestrial forests.
They can store “blue carbon” – the carbon dioxide they remove from the environment – in their underlying soils for hundreds or thousands of years. - 20% of large fisheries are found in seagrass meadows.
Seagrass meadows act as critical habitats that support more than 20% of the world’s largest fisheries, making protection of the meadows particularly important to coastal communities. Conservation of coastal wetlands helps ensure sustainable, healthy fish populations for the future. - More than 100 countries recognize coastal wetlands in their climate actions.
Every five years, Parties to the Paris Agreement on climate change must submit progressively more ambitious action plans to reduce emissions and help communities adapt to climate effects. These are known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs. Countries that incorporate protections for coastal wetlands in their NDCs – among them Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica and Kenya – are demonstrating the importance of habitat protection to reduce emissions.
Distributed energy resources can modernize and democratize power systems
While natural ecosystems can help remove carbon from the atmosphere, achieving climate goals also requires reducing emissions from the energy sector. Around the world, countries are working to build cleaner, more reliable and more affordable electricity systems as demand continues to grow.
Distributed energy resources (DERs) – including rooftop solar, battery storage and smart appliances – are a promising pathway. By generating and managing electricity closer to where it is used, these technologies can reduce reliance on fossil fuels, improve grid reliability and benefit consumers.
Key facts about DERs:
- Networked DERs can reduce the cost of power generation by 40% to 60% compared to traditional resources.
DER technologies are being installed in homes and businesses at an increasing pace. Studies have found that, when networked together to form a virtual power plant, these distributed assets, collectively, can deliver power at times of peak demand, when the grid is stressed and energy is most expensive. While reducing strain on the grid, DERs also reduce strain on household budgets. - The United Kingdom’s largest distribution operator for DER connections receives 60,000 requests per year – a sign of demand.
UK Power Networks, which serves London and parts of eastern and southeastern England, receives tens of thousands of requests annually to connect DERs to its electric grid. To manage the surge in interest, the utility has automated its process for connecting resources to the grid and optimized capacity through software solutions. Together, these efforts have helped match distributed resources to areas of capacity need, enhancing the reliability of energy generation throughout the country. - In Australia, rooftop solar generated nearly 13% of electricity in 2025 – a measure of the technology’s potential.
Australia offers a glimpse of how rapidly DERs can transform power systems. Rooftop solar already accounts for a significant share of electricity generation and is helping prepare the country for the retirement of more than 60% of its coal-fired power plants, a goal for 2040.
Conservation and innovation: the power of an integrated approach
Protecting coastal wetlands helps remove and store carbon while strengthening ecosystems and communities. Expanding DERs helps reduce emissions from electricity generation while improving affordability and reliability. Together, these efforts illustrate how climate progress can be achieved through both conservation and innovation.
With less than six months until the next round of international climate negotiations in Türkiye, LCAW is an important pivot point. Participants should celebrate the progress that has been made but push for even greater ambition. Conservation efforts combined with smart, renewable energy policies can achieve global climate goals. In London next week, leaders can discuss promising plans and ideas – and take the next steps to implement them in their own cities and countries.
Roger-Mark De Souza is the vice president for environment, Laura Lightbody is the director for energy modernization, and Thomas Hickey is the project director for advancing coastal wetlands conservation at The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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