The world will be watching beginning November 30 as leaders from across the globe gather in Paris for COP21, an United Nation’s International Panel on Climate Change conference of supreme importance. Talks there are meant to achieve a new international agreement—applicable to all countries—that aims to keep global warming below 2°C. But how can biomimicry help?

The immense undertaking will require cooperation, commitment, and more than a simple pledge to cut carbon emissions. In fact, the IPCC estimates surface temperatures will remain approximately constant at elevated levels for many centuries after a complete cessation of manmade CO2 emissions. The IPCC report goes on to note that in order to make a meaningful difference, we need to draw carbon down out of the atmosphere. Sequester it through a large net removal.

Enter biomimicry, and a set of solutions that looks to nature for strategies to manage carbon.

Energy-wise and habitat-enhancing solutions. It’s local, it’s possible, and it’s one of those great things to contemplate:

What if everyone did this?

Learn more about biomimicry and Biomimicry 3.8, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter (follow @Biomimicry38) and LinkedIn.