Busting Climate Myths: Promising Solutions and Scientific Evidence

The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference — also known as COP30 — just wrapped up in Brazil. This year, for the first time, the United States did not send an official delegation. And gloomy headlines have spotlighted the dire consequences of inaction on global warming.

But climate action is as important as ever—and real progress is being made. As the world comes together to revisit critical environmental solutions, it’s important to understand both the challenges we face and the reasons for continued optimism and determination.

Below, we tackle some of the most common myths about climate change and economic development—and share evidence of how sustainable solutions are already unlocking resilience, growth, and opportunity.

Myth #1: “Cutting emissions always means sacrificing economic prosperity.”

Reality: In fact, the opposite is often the case. A UN report estimated that every $1 invested in land restoration can result in $7-$30 in economic benefits. In our own work, we have seen how adopting regenerative agriculture, green value chains, and inclusive business models often boosts earnings, jobs, and resilience.

For instance, a recent TechnoServe report found that helping coffee farmers adopt regenerative agricultural practices can increase coffee exports by 30%, boost the incomes of more than 3 million smallholders, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3.5 million tons of CO₂e per year—all while enhancing biodiversity and restoring nature.

In addition, many businesses that operate in, or buy from, climate change-affected areas need to secure the sustainability of their value chains. Another recent TechnoServe report outlined in detail how these sustainable business models can achieve both environmental and economic payoffs. The report notes that agribusinesses that invested in these business models generally did so with an expected commercial return over a five-year period of 1.5-three times the investment into fixed costs.

Climate change mitigation can also mean big business for small businesses. Many goods and services that reduce carbon emissions are also in demand from consumers: renewable energy technology, sustainable farming solutions, and waste reduction resources. In India, for instance, one report estimated that green small businesses represented a $3.46 trillion market opportunity. (Check out just a few of these green businesses here.)

Myth #2: “Sustainability is a luxury for rich countries.”

Reality: In many low-income countries, sustainability isn’t a luxury—it’s survival. Farmers and small enterprises already feel the front-line effects of drought, floods, and extreme weather events. Strengthening their market access and sustainable practices not only improves their environmental resilience but also their economic resilience.

Smallholder farmers in the semi-arid region of northern India, like many farmers worldwide, struggle to earn a living as the average surface temperature rises. They increasingly face more droughts, heatwaves, and other climate threats. However, for the last 10 years, thousands of guar farmers in Rajasthan have improved their economic resilience by improving their climate resilience. Their average guar yields have increased threefold, with revenue from guar increasing by more than 100% for over 1,800 farmers who have been associated with the program since 2015.

In addition, farmers in places like Zimbabwe are adopting sustainable practices like regenerative agriculture, which bring both environmental and economic benefits. “We teach farmers to grow coffee in shade, supporting them to plant indigenous trees, and intercrop with banana trees,” said TechnoServe’s Zimbabwe Coffee Program Manager Midway Bhunu. “Shade trees are critically important in the fight against climate change, both decreasing soil and leaf temperatures and conserving soil moisture. Coffee grown under shade is not as susceptible to diseases and pests–and it’s better quality.”

Myth #3: “Smallholders have only a marginal impact on climate or ecosystems.”

Reality: There are roughly 570 million smallholder farmers, and they produce roughly a third of the world’s food. One study estimated that smallholder farmers in lower-income countries produced roughly 5% of the world’s emissions from greenhouse gases—about as much as the decay of solid waste around the world. Most of the deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon, for instance, is caused by smallholder farmers looking to expand their farmland in search of greater production and income.

However, large-scale shifts in many human activities can deliver meaningful emissions reductions, discourage deforestation, and restore farm health and biodiversity. These approaches include:

1. Helping small-scale livestock farmers to reduce their animals’ emissions
2. Reducing post-harvest loss, a significant cause of greenhouse gas emissions
3. Encouraging agroforestry, where planting trees not only captures carbon from the atmosphere but can also improve soil fertility and crop yields

Myth #4: “Adaptation is separate from mitigation.”

Reality: In many cases, climate adaptation goes hand in hand with emissions mitigation. A recent analysis of hundreds of climate adaptation investments found that over half of them should also reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the long term.

Other climate adaptation actions that also mitigate emissions include:

1. Protecting coastal wetlands and forests. These areas provide a crucial barrier against storm surges and sea level rise resulting from climate change, while also reducing emissions by capturing carbon dioxide from the air and storing it in the soil.
2. Expanding renewable energy. Solar and wind power can be affordable, accessible sources of energy for low-income populations. This helps strengthen people’s economic resilience against climate shocks while improving their ability to access electric fans or air conditioning as temperatures rise. These forms of clean energy also mitigate climate change by generating electricity without any direct emissions, a market contrast to fossil fuels.
3. Regenerative agriculture. These farming practices—which can include intercropping, agroforestry, mulching, and composting—help farmers adapt to warmer temperatures while also reducing their emissions. In El Salvador, for instance, coffee farmers like Benjamin Alas Ordoñez found that planting shade trees helps protect their crops from heat-related threats while locking more moisture into the soil. But it also helps reduce emissions. “Maintaining this forest is important for the climate – for the oxygen it provides and the carbon it captures,” Benjamin noted.

Myth #5: “Carbon is the only currency of climate action.”

Reality: Climate change is a complex issue that affects many aspects of society. That’s why managing climate change impacts also means addressing interconnected issues such as nutrition, gender equity, and economic opportunity.

• Nutrition: In India and Latin America, farming projects have also included support for establishing “kitchen gardens.” These small plots near the home allow families to grow fresh produce that they may not prioritize over their commercial crops, and which are often expensive for them to purchase. This not only improves families’ nutrition but also often enables women to enhance their farming skills and, if they sell excess produce, their incomes.
• Gender Equity: Women produce up to 80% of food in lower-income countries, but often face unequal access to land, finance, and economic opportunity. Part of working with communities to adopt sustainable farming practices involves ensuring that women can participate as equally as possible in trainings and management.
• Economic Opportunity: Embracing climate-friendly practices must make economic sense for low-income communities. From Kenya to India, green businesses are working with TechnoServe and many others to expand access to environmentally friendly goods and services, making strong profits in the process.
• Financial Skills: Climate change poses a severe economic threat to many people in low-income countries, especially those working in agriculture. Improving farmers’ overall economic resilience — through enhanced market access, financial literacy, and access to finance — helps them better withstand climate shocks.

The transition to a climate-smart future is already underway. From smallholder farmers adopting regenerative agriculture to green businesses scaling new technologies, climate action is delivering real economic and environmental benefits in communities most affected by climate change. As COP30 makes clear, governments alone will not solve this crisis; progress depends on the leadership of farmers, entrepreneurs, investors, and global citizens committed to practical, inclusive solutions.