Climate

Resilience and Nature-Based Solutions

What's at Stake

Droughts. Floods. Shorter growing seasons. Economic insecurity. Famine. For farmers and forest communities around the world, climate change poses daunting challenges—and disproportionately impacts poor rural communities who depend on the land to live. In today’s hyper-connected world, fighting climate change and building resilience to its impacts is urgent for us all.

Forests, Agriculture, and Climate

Almost a quarter of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, forestry, and other land use—with the main culprits being deforestation and forest degradation, along with livestock, poor soil management, and fertilizer application. Agriculture drives an estimated 75 percent of deforestation.

Our Work

Our Work: Climate

The Rainforest Alliance has long worked to conserve tropical forests—a vital defense against climate change—by partnering with forest communities on improved land management practices. We also train farmers in climate-smart agriculture methods, helping them to adapt to current climate impacts and prepare for future challenges. All our work focuses on protecting forests and land in ways that strengthen local livelihoods.

Natural Climate Solutions

The Rainforest Alliance focuses on natural climate solutions like forest conservation, forest restoration, and improved land management in order to increase carbon storage, avoid greenhouse gas emissions, and build resilience to changing weather patterns. Natural climate solutions are extremely cost effective and do not require inventing or scaling up new technology.

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Deforestation between the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala and the Belize border

What is the Relationship Between Deforestation And Climate Change?

Deforestation causes about 10 percent of global emissions.

What Is Climate-Smart Agriculture?

Climate-smart agriculture identifies the risks posed by climate change and the farming practices that best address those challenges.

Six Critical Climate Actions You Can Take Right Now

Here are six effective climate change actions (individual and global) you can take right now.

Learn more about how we are working to achieve our mission.

View our approach

Our Impact

Research shows that certified farmers implement more sustainable practices that can help them adapt to and prepare for climate impacts. These practices can improve soil quality, conserve water, increase native vegetation and carbon storage—and all while increasing productivity on existing farmland.

150 tons of carbon

per hectare stored in trees on Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee farms in Nicaragua, compared to 82 tons per hectare on non-certified farms

More trees and ground cover mean more carbon stored

These coffee farms in Nicaragua boast a high basal area, which means there is a considerable number of large and old trees, as well as a high percentage of ground cover—all of which increases carbon storage. Ground cover also provides wildlife habitat and helps control soil erosion.

20 shade trees per hectare

on Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa farms in Ghana, compared to 4-5 shade trees per hectare on non-certified farms

Shade trees for climate resilience

Certain crops like cocoa and coffee grow beautifully under the shade of larger trees, which are key to climate-smart farming, in part because they help to stabilize temperature and moisture. These certified farms in Ghana increased the number of native trees over a five-year period to achieve 40 percent shade cover, while their non-certified counterparts tended to remove trees.

Learn more ways we are achieving real results.

View our impact dashboard

Get Involved

Join us to create a better future for people and nature.