Video | How Do Healthy Ecosystems Help Protect Us From Droughts, Heatwaves, and Flooding?

Eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels and leveraging new technologies that help capture carbon and store energy are essential in the fight against climate breakdown. Natural climate solutions—the conservation and restoration of Earth’s carbon-storing ecosystems—can be a big part of our actions.

These three 2021 UN Environment Programme animations summarize how healthy ecosystems can help protect us from droughts, heatwaves, and flooding.

“For instance, coastal habitats like mangroves provide natural flood defences, well-protected lakes retain water sources during droughts, and healthy forests reduce the risk of devastating wildfires.”

The United Nations Environment Programme is helping communities adapt to a warming world with more than 70 climate change adaptation projects in over 50 countries. These under-a-minute explainers introduce just a few of the concepts at the core of their efforts.