What is a climate solution, what is not, and why?

Headshot of Amanda D. Smith, Ph.D.
by Amanda D. Smith, Ph.D.

Everyone’s talking about climate solutions. But what exactly makes something a climate solution? Who figures out if it’s truly a solution, and how?

In this Drawdown Ignite presentation, Senior Scientist for the Built Environment Amanda D. Smith, Ph.D., explained how Project Drawdown evaluates technologies and practices that have the potential to be global climate solutions. She also introduced the evidence-based framework we have developed to identify proven climate solutions and quantify their potential for turning the tide on climate change and gave a sneak peek of what to expect when Project Drawdown releases our new climate solutions resources next year.

Top Takeaways:

  1. Climate solutions must first and foremost materially reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases and other warming agents – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases, black carbon – in the atmosphere.
  2. Project Drawdown defines global climate solutions as identifiable technologies or practices that:
    • materially reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by cutting emissions at the source or removing them from the atmosphere by supporting carbon sinks
    • are readily available today and have a proven ability to reduce greenhouse gases 
    • reduce greenhouse gases on the global scale necessary to actually impact climate change.
  3. Anything that claims to be a solution cannot: 
    • be technologies that are currently unproven and unavailable  
    • increase emissions elsewhere or shift them to a different sector so that the result of adopting the solution is no longer a net reduction in emissions 
    • make the world a worse place by increasing inequity and environmental harm
    • accelerate another planetary crisis, such as water loss, pollution, or biodiversity loss.

We aren’t addressing climate change because we like a certain global mean temperature. We’re doing it to build a safe and equitable world where people and a diverse community of other species are thriving.

  1. Climate solutions that reduce greenhouse gases today are better than those that promise reductions at some undefined point in the future.
  2. There is no single solution or sector that alone can stop climate change – we need a tapestry of solutions working in concert to create a better, more sustainable future. 
  3. Project Drawdown uses the best available science and evidence to assess the most promising climate solutions. 
  4. Project Drawdown is creating the Drawdown Explorer, a new climate solutions resource launching in 2025 that will empower you to identify:
    • where a particular solution is most impactful
    • when the solution should be implemented compared to others to maximize greenhouse gas reductions
    • how to overcome barriers to the implementation of the solution
    • who is positioned to help accelerate the adoption of the solution and what they can do. 
  5. For each solution in the Drawdown Explorer, researchers at Project Drawdown have evaluated the best available data on the solution’s: effectiveness; cost; current adoption level; potential adoption level; benefits for people, the environment, and biodiversity; and risks and trade-offs. 
  6. All Drawdown Explorer solutions are reviewed by internal and external scientific experts to ensure accuracy and rigor.
  7. The Drawdown Explorer will be simple, action-oriented, and transparent, allowing anyone and everyone to use it to implement solutions, whether you’re a policymaker, educator, philanthropist, business leader, or individual looking to create change.

Useful Links:

Three Things You Can Do NOW:

  1. Share the webinar recording with others through a text, email, or social media post.
  2. Check out the current Drawdown Climate Solutions Library to learn about the most promising solutions to stop climate change.
  3. Sign up for our biweekly newsletter to be among the first to hear when Project Drawdown launches our new climate solutions resources next year.

About the Author

Amanda D. Smith, Ph.D., is a senior scientist at Project Drawdown with expertise in building science and distributed energy systems. 

About Project Drawdown 

Project Drawdown is the world’s leading guide to science-based climate solutions. Our mission is to drive meaningful climate action around the world. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Project Drawdown is funded by individual and institutional donations. 

This work is published under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. You are welcome to republish it following the license terms.

More Insights

A graphic showing a heat map of the planet in shades of blue with a line chart overlaid
Five key insights into global greenhouse gas emissions
Perspective  | 
Composite image depicting ocean-based climate solutions
What floats and what sinks when it comes to ocean-based climate solutions?
Heat pump
Let’s turbo-boost heat pump sales by making heat pumps the default for cooling
Graphic showing where cropland calories go
We could feed 14.5 billion with today’s cropland. Why aren’t we?
Perspective  | 
Religious symbols across a background of many people
The human heart as a climate solution
Perspective  | 
Globes with conceptual donut graphs circliing them
The four most important charts for people who want to stop climate change
Perspective  | 
Pie chart showing 2% of philanthropic giving goes to climate
The secret to supercharging climate capital? Science.
Perspective  | 
Chocolate image superimposed on world map
What type of chocolate is best for climate?
Points of light emanating from U.S. map
Climate science serves America – and beyond
A graphic with heat pumps and trees in front of a blue-tinted forest
We don’t have to choose between climate adaptation and mitigation – we can do both
See All Insights
back to top