By Abbas Nazil
A growing body of scientific opinion is urging policymakers to integrate the ecological roles of wild animals into climate change strategies, arguing that wildlife is not only affected by climate change but also plays a crucial role in regulating ecosystems, storing carbon and strengthening environmental resilience.
The argument is outlined in a new Scientific Consensus on Wildlife and Climate, which has already been endorsed by more than 300 scientists worldwide and continues to gain support across ecological and climate research communities.
Experts involved in the initiative say climate policy discussions have traditionally focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through technology, infrastructure and protection of ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and seagrass beds.
However, they argue that this approach often overlooks a critical component of natural systems, which is the presence and function of wild animals that help maintain ecological balance and enhance carbon storage.
According to researchers, wildlife contributes significantly to ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling, plant growth regulation, seed dispersal, soil formation and disturbance recovery, all of which influence how ecosystems respond to climate change.
The commentary highlights that animals are active participants in carbon cycles, not passive elements within ecosystems, and their absence can reduce the effectiveness of natural climate solutions.
Examples include large herbivores such as bison, which influence grassland dynamics by shaping plant growth, fire patterns and nutrient distribution through grazing behaviour.
In forest ecosystems, animals like elephants are known to disperse seeds over long distances, shaping vegetation patterns and influencing forest structure and carbon storage capacity.
In marine environments, species ranging from plankton to large whales contribute to what scientists describe as the ocean’s biological carbon pump, a system that moves carbon from surface waters into the deep ocean where it can be stored for long periods.
One key process described is diel vertical migration, in which marine organisms such as zooplankton and fish move daily between surface waters and deep ocean zones, transporting organic carbon to deeper layers and enhancing long-term carbon sequestration.
Scientific studies suggest that protecting wildlife populations and restoring their ecological roles could significantly increase global carbon dioxide uptake, potentially adding more than six gigatons of carbon absorption annually under certain conditions.
Researchers argue that these findings demonstrate that wildlife conservation should be considered a core component of climate mitigation strategies rather than a separate environmental concern.
The commentary also stresses that protecting animals does not replace the need for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but should complement emissions reduction efforts and habitat restoration initiatives.
According to the scientists, healthy ecosystems that maintain full biodiversity are more resilient to climate impacts and better able to store carbon, regulate natural processes and recover from environmental disturbances.
The author of the commentary, Jérôme Pinti of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, notes that climate models and policy frameworks often fail to account for the full ecological functions of wildlife.
He argues that this omission leads to incomplete assessments of nature-based climate solutions and weakens the effectiveness of long-term climate strategies.
The Scientific Consensus initiative calls on governments, researchers and policymakers to incorporate wildlife dynamics into climate planning, ecosystem modelling and conservation policy.
It further recommends that climate strategies recognise animals not only as species to be protected but as active contributors to ecosystem stability and climate regulation.
The commentary concludes that climate planning must reflect the reality that ecosystems are dynamic systems shaped by interactions among plants, animals and the physical environment.
It warns that excluding wildlife from climate frameworks risks undermining both biodiversity conservation and climate resilience efforts at a global scale.
Researchers involved in the initiative maintain that integrating wildlife into climate policy will improve the accuracy of environmental models and strengthen the effectiveness of global responses to climate change.
