When tech meets nature: Leveraging technology to accelerate nature-based solutions

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“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?” While this age-old philosophical question has been debated for centuries, the answer is clear in the context of illegal logging. If that tree exists in one of the rainforests that non-profit tech startup Rainforest Connection is protecting, then the answer is a resounding yes.

The company is using “ears on the ground” — devices powered by solar panels that are installed in treetops — to protect rainforests in various areas from northern Brazil to Sumatra in Indonesia. These listening devices are part of a smart bio-acoustic monitoring system which aims to stop illegal logging in real time. The system leverages cloud technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify sounds, alerting local partners whenever a threat, such as the sound of a chainsaw, is detected.

Using tech to protect nature

Rainforest Connection is one of the startups that form the first cohort of Sustaintech Xcelerator, a virtual accelerator launched by DBS Bank, Google Cloud, National University of Singapore’s Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions (NUS-CNCS), Temasek, non-profit standard-setter Verra, and the World Bank.

At a recent Ecosperity Conversations webinar by Temasek, the startups presented their technologies which focus on increasing investor and buyer confidence in nature-based solutions (NbS). NbS are climate mitigation solutions that use natural processes to reduce or remove greenhouse gases. The session also included a panel discussion featuring Mr Jani Patokallio, Google Cloud’s Head of Solutions for Asia-Pacific; Mr Chandra Shekhar Sinha, Adviser of the Climate Change Group at the World Bank; Ms Candace Vinke, Verra’s Director of Nature-based Innovations; and Ms Adeline Aw, Vice President of Environmental Sustainability at the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

The industry experts weighed in on the opportunities and challenges of scaling up NbS, how technology can help, and Singapore’s efforts to unlock the potential of NBS as part of its ambition to become a carbon services hub in Asia.

It is estimated that NbS can account for over a third of cost-effective climate mitigation needed to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Protecting and restoring our natural ecosystems not only helps the world achieve our climate goals, but also benefits biodiversity and increases the resilience of local communities.

Today, there is growing consensus on the need for more NbS. Yet such solutions are still underfunded, receiving less than 3 per cent of global climate finance. Carbon credits, generated by projects that actively remove, reduce or avoid carbon emissions, could help. As more companies pledge to support climate action, the demand for carbon credits to complement their absolute carbon reduction plans could increase. In fact, it is estimated that the demand for high-quality voluntary carbon credits could jump 15-fold by 2030.

To truly realise the opportunity of NbS, however, the current problems plaguing it must be addressed. There is still a lack of trust in NbS due to concerns in quantifying and monitoring these investments, as well as the high costs involved.

Could technology help enhance trust in NbS? The startups from Sustaintech Xcelerator, which aims to improve the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of the impacts of NbS, believe so.

Much like Rainforest Connection, Treevia Forest Technologies is focusing on forest monitoring using sensors, while Cloud Agronomics and FARM-TRACE are using technologies such as hyperspectral imaging and AI to help farmers address climate change. Meanwhile, carbon offset platform Sylvera is combining satellite imagery, radar and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data to enhance the transparency of carbon offsets from nature-based projects through a proprietary rating system.

Scaling up with the help of partners

Such solutions are proof of technology’s key role in scaling NbS. The two areas in which technology can be particularly impactful are the use of AI and satellite imagery, says Google’s Mr Patokallio. He adds that technology can help replace labour-intensive practices, improving efficiency and reducing cost.

To build a better world, we need more responsible innovation, stresses DBS Bank’s Head of Innovation Bidyut Dumra. Innovators must be conscious of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) trade-offs and impact of their solutions, he adds. The key is to recognise the problem, find the right balance and push to do more good.

That said, while these emerging technologies aim to do good, they will need help to scale. The panel concurs that collaboration across the ecosystem will be needed to bring these technologies to market and reap the full benefits of NbS.

She explains that this is done through a multi-pronged approach, which involves building expertise in carbon services, and doubling down on scientific research to improve the environmental integrity and project credibility of NbS in the tropical context.

Examples include research led by the NUS-CNCS, and the country’s marine climate change science research programme, which focuses on areas including blue carbon — the carbon stored in marine and coastal ecosystems.

Additionally, Southeast Asia (SEA) has the highest concentration of carbon prospecting globally for investments in NbS. As a gateway to the region and a key financial and business hub, Singapore can support companies that are looking to reduce their carbon footprint via NbS investments in SEA.

The city-state is growing its ecosystem of service providers in project development and financing, MRV and trading, adding onto its current landscape of over 70 organisations in carbon services – the highest concentration of services providers in SEA.

The panellists agree that carbon markets will undoubtedly help unlock the private capital needed to catalyse NbS, but more work must be done to address existing issues such as double counting and inadequate transparency. To that end, Singapore is working closely with the World Bank on initiatives like the Climate Warehouse, which aims to connect different carbon registry systems across the world via a meta-data platform powered by blockchain.

Greater need for transparency and standardisation

World Bank’s Mr Sinha emphasises the need for an end-to-end solution for greater credibility, traceability and robustness of global carbon offsets. He highlights that the MRV solutions presented by the Sustaintech Xcelerator startups can increase trust and lower costs — but often only at the activity level. The Climate Warehouse initiative was thus developed to bridge the gap between these solutions and the global carbon market, providing a transparent view of market activity.

Applying these on-the-ground solutions to actual NbS projects that can generate carbon credits will also require standardisation — an area where the support of independent standard setters like Verra is needed. According to the organisation, its Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is the most widely used voluntary greenhouse gas crediting programme in the world.

Acknowledging the benefits of new technologies, Verra’s Ms Vinke cautions that rules for their use must be established to ensure standardisation. “Before we can implement these changes, we need to first understand the science and robustness of them,” she says. The organisation is in discussions with academic groups to assess the technical, financial and practical feasibility of tech-powered MRV.

The panellists note that while technology has the potential to improve MRV processes in NbS, it will still require support from the ecosystem to truly accelerate NbS and climate action. And it is such collaboration, from public and private sectors to startups and non-profit organisations, that will give the world the best chance of fixing this climate emergency.

This article was adapted from When Tech Meets Nature: Leveraging Technology to Accelerate Nature-based Solutions by Temasek. Temasek strives to activate capital — financial, human, natural and social — to catalyse solutions for a better world, and deliver sustainable long-term returns.