Microbiology societies from five continents have launched the first joint global strategy to harness microbial science in addressing climate change. The initiative was announced following the Global Strategy Meeting on Microbes and Climate Change, held in May in Washington, D.C.
Indiana University Bloomington biology professor Jay Lennon is lead author of the paper “Microbes without borders: uniting societies for climate action.” The paper is co-published across six leading scientific journals, including FEMS Microbiology Ecology, mBio, Microbiology Australia, Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research, Sustainable Microbiology and The ISME Journal.
“We started working on this about five years ago, and during that time, other microbiological societies were also coming to the same conclusion — that microbes play a role in climate change,” Lennon said. “We could start to see consensus and a need to bring people together, and that’s what this meeting in D.C. was, which led to the editorial piece and a coalition of microbiological societies around the world to focus on sustainability and climate change.”
The meeting identified four major principles to guide the path forward: form a formal coalition of microbiology societies and partner organizations; engage policymakers, funders, entrepreneurs and advocacy groups to ensure microbial science is reflected in climate strategies and investment decisions; use storytelling, advocacy and media strategies to elevate microbes in the climate conversation; and pilot real-world demonstration projects — such as reducing fertilizer runoff and restoring soil microbiomes — that achieve measurable ecological and economic outcomes, foster trust and inform policy.
The strategy invites policymakers, industry, funders, other microbiology organizations and the public to recognize microbes as vital allies in the fight against climate change, while charting a clear course for microbiology organizations to lead by example.
“Climate change is sometimes framed only in terms of crisis, but microbes remind us that there are also opportunities,” Lennon said. “Climate change can negatively affect microbial communities, for example by increasing disease risk, yet we can also harness microbes in positive ways. They can contribute to climate solutions with benefits that extend to human health and the bioeconomy.”
Lennon noted that his own research has long been shaped by questions of global change. “As a scientist and biologist, many aspects of my research have been motivated by issues related to global change — invasive species, changing temperature, and how land use alters the movement of materials like nutrients and carbon from land into water,” he said. “My science has always been inspired by these foundational problems.”
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