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Section 1 4
Glacier carving, Spitsbergen, Norway Š Steve Morello/WWF-Canon
SOLUTIONS Addressing climate change requires major and fundamental changes in the way that we live, do business and interact with each other. The overwhelming priority is to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and to increase rates of carbon sequestration. This report looks at one important part of any rational response strategy: the use of protected areas as a tool to conserve natural and semi-natural systems; both to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere and to help people and ecosystems adapt to the impacts of climate change. Of course protected areas are not a complete solution, nor should reliance on them be used to replace or undermine efforts to reduce emissions at source. But they are an essential – though so far often neglected – part of the strategy.