Every day I see how our farmers and ranchers steward the land in the face of ever-mounting environmental and economic challenges. For them, the greatest reward is not only pursuing a livelihood they love, and have often carried out for generations, but in sustainably producing the food, fuel and fiber that our country needs to thrive.
Our farmers and ranchers see the potential of the land every time they prepare the ground for a new planting or gather a new harvest. It’s a potential that extends beyond food production to contributing to solutions for our planet and future generations. And one of the most profound ways the agriculture sector can make a difference is through natural climate solutions. More and more of our farmers are using climate-smart agriculture practices that protect our vital soil and its huge potential to store carbon. In fact, U.S. soils store 100 times more carbon than total U.S. emissions in a year. Deploying climate-smart practices is an effective solution to not only eliminate the sector’s own carbon emissions but that of other sectors as well.
That’s why we are so proud to have joined U.S. Nature4Climate, a forward-thinking coalition of conservation, environmental and sustainable business organizations committed to ensuring our forests, farms, ranches, grasslands and wetlands are a vital part of the strategy to combat climate change.
Our farmers and ranchers know first-hand that nature-based solutions to climate change are powerful, but often overlooked, and that sustainable stewardship of the land can positively impact other critical environmental, social and economic factors. Through their own resilient practices, stewards of the land can unleash nature’s own healing and restorative potential.
Photo Credit Jason Whalen/Fauna Creative
Agriculture is truly the one sector that has stood up in a profound way to enable the United States to commit to climate action and to act meaningfully on the SDGs and to transform our rural economies. This is captured in our recently launched Decade of Ag vision for a resilient, restorative, economically viable and climate-smart agricultural system that produces abundant and nutritious food, natural fiber and clean energy for a sustainable, vibrant and prosperous America.
We’re excited that U.S. Nature4Climate shares this vision, including the huge untapped potential for carbon sequestration in our soils through climate-smart agricultural practices. Through this knowledge-rich organization, and our complementary perspectives, we can learn from one another and be stronger together advancing nature-based solutions to climate change.
Every time farmers and ranchers are part of the conversation to more sustainably steward the land and create the resilient food systems of the future, the greater the chance for success. Every harvest is an opportunity to get it right—but with an eye to achieving the SDGs by 2030, that’s less than 30 harvests. Collaborating with partners like U.S. Nature4Climate is our best bet to make every harvest count.
Erin Fitzgerald is the Chief Executive Officer at U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action.
Photo Credit: Forbes, This Start-Up Wants To Make Reforestation More High-Tech. Andrew Wight.
Whether’s it’s watching David Attenborough’s latest Perfect Planet films or using high-tech VR to experience the Amazon, many of us are familiar with experiencing the natural world through technology. We are, however, much less familiar with understanding the many emerging ways in which technology can and should help us protect, restore and more sustainably manage our natural resources.
At Nature4Climate (N4C), we are excited by the emergence of what we are calling ‘nature tech’ – a term that encompasses the application of modern technology to help enable, accelerate and scale-up nature’s ability to combat climate change and deliver a range of other benefits for people and the planet.
Left to its own devices, nature has been providing benefits to humankind since the beginning of time. Unfortunately, in far too many places, nature is under threat and we now know that proactive steps need to be taken care for our natural ecosystems. These actions are known, collectively, as nature-based solutions (NbS), which are defined by IUCN as ‘actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits’. A sub-section of NbS are natural climate solutions that are focused specifically on climate mitigation and adaptation.
In the midst of a global health crisis, the collapse of biodiversity, and a warming climate, the need for NbS has never been greater. But despite their potential, NbS still face a number of barriers. They require government policies and incentives; they require community support and engagement; and they require private sector understanding and investment, both in the corporate and finance sectors.
These are all areas that N4C, and many others, are working on. But it is also clear that, like most things, NbS can be greatly aided by innovative technology. Many see nature and technology as polar opposites, and by extension believe that “natural” and “technological” solutions to global crises exist in conflict. We believe the opposite, and so this year we will be turning our attention to ‘nature tech’ – technology that can accelerate the deployment of NbS at scale.
Defining ‘nature tech’
The notion of ‘cleantech’ has existed for more than a decade, and is synonymous with eco-innovation, encompassing high-tech companies that create environmental added value. In its 2020 report, the Cleantech Group estimated that more than $7.4 billion had been raised by its top 100 companies from investors spanning 45 countries – and the whole sector has been estimated to be worth about $4 trillion. Cleantech is defined as ‘new technology and related business models that offer competitive returns for investors and customers while providing solutions to global challenges’.
To date, definitions of cleantech have mostly covered companies that focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, recycling, supply chain efficiencies, etc., with emerging trends in what is known as ‘ag tech’. At N4C, we believe there is huge potential for the growth of companies that apply technology advances – whether that’s satellite monitoring, drone technology, AI, genomic sequencing, block chain etc – for the benefit of nature and the climate.
So, how do we define ‘nature tech’? In its broadest sense, it is high-tech applications that enable, accelerate and scale-up NbS. N4C is currently conducting a landscape-mapping and scoping exercise and will release a more precise definition during the CogX festival in June in the UK. But based on our initial assessment, we believe it covers the following areas, albeit not exclusively:
The number of the companies that embody this trend are still relatively few compared to the numbers reported by the Cleantech Group, but it is increasing. For example, Pachama has attracted attention and funding for its combination of machine learning and satellite monitoring to protect forests by connecting them to global carbon markets. In Canada, Flash Forest has pioneered a high-tech approach that can speed up reforestation by 10 times. Moja global is developing open-source software to improve accuracy and lower the cost of developing a system to measure emissions from forestry, agriculture and other land uses. Finnish company Carbo Culture focuses on high-tech biochar solutions to enhance carbon sequestration in soils, while NatureMetrics uses cutting-edge genetic techniques to monitor biodiversity. Tech can also give us an insight into a previously obscure and hidden world. We have long relied on systems like TRASE to look at supply chain transparency and the cause and effect of commodity production and trade, and this technology is rapidly improving.
There are also initiatives focused on building support and funding for these companies: the Techstars Sustainability Accelerator was launched in partnership with The Nature Conservancy to accelerate investment in start-ups looking to help solve food, water and climate challenges. In December 2020, the Sustaintech Xcelerator was launched by DBS, Google, the World Bank and others to support climate innovators who are developing solutions that increase confidence in NbS.
Why is this emerging trend important? We believe that there are five good reasons for nature-tech – the bridge between the worlds of technology and nature – to be strengthened and invested in.
Nature tech has a vital role to play in accelerating the deployment of nature-based solutions, at a time when speed is of the essence. We cannot reach the goals of the Paris Agreement without large-scale deployment of natural climate solutions by 2030. It can also help us map, measure and deploy NBS at the right places at the right time.
Equally important are the jobs that can be created. This includes all the livelihoods supported by nature-positive investments, such as sustainable food production and reforestation efforts, as well as creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs to build nature tech businesses that may not currently exist.
Technology also enables the democratization of opportunity. Ideas can come from anywhere, and a bottom-up revolution in nature-based solutions is possible in every country, facilitated by accessible technology such as mobile phones and platforms such as the World Economic Forum’s UpLink that connects projects on the ground to experts and investors.
Transparency and accountability are especially critical in the race to net zero, particular for nature’s place in that race. This is where technology can play an outsized role, to help solve many of the existential hurdles that nature-based solutions to climate have faced – around monitoring, measuring, verifying and reporting.
And last but never least, finance. Nature-based solutions are much in need of investment, attracting less than 10% of current public climate finance. Technology can help derisk projects and play an important role in both creating a marketplace and attracting finance, by reducing transaction costs, enhancing supply chain transparency, and looking into past and future models and trends.
Instead of just using technology to experience nature – a poor substitute for the real thing – N4C believes tech can be a huge force for unlocking the potential of nature-based solutions. It’s time to bridge the worlds of nature and technology. We live at a moment of extreme urgency with a need for innovation, solutions and using the best tools that the modern world can give us. Nature Tech is just beginning. We think it’s the next big thing, the next big investment opportunity, the next revolution in thinking and solutions.
“Tech is a tool; it’s up to us how we use it. Nature now needs tech support too.”
Lucy Almond is the Director and Chair of Nature4Climate.
From extreme droughts, flooding, and fires to altered migration patterns and “hoot owl” fishing restrictions, America’s sportsmen and women have seen firsthand the impacts of a changing climate. If we are to protect and restore the habitats that support all the species we love to pursue, the hunting and fishing community must be part of climate change solutions.
There is no one silver bullet or single set of actions that will turn the tides entirely—climate change can only be addressed with a comprehensive strategy that involves all of us and all the tools we have. Thankfully, this includes habitat conservation measures already supported by sportsmen and women.
Here are six habitat improvement strategies that provide this win-win proposition: better hunting and fishing opportunities and fewer climate-change-driven impacts to fish and wildlife.
Improve Forest Management
The nation’s forests provide habitat for wildlife, shade to cool trout streams, and many convenient places to hang a tree stand, but they also store carbon—keeping carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and warming the globe. In fact, across the world, forests store as much as one-third of all emissions from burning fossil fuels or about 2.6 billion tons of carbon each year.
Forests also draw additional carbon out of the atmosphere. Young, healthy growing forests mostly sequester carbon while older forests store it, which is why it helps to have diverse, well-managed forests. Unfortunately, decades of fire suppression and past management practices have left many public forests in poor health and vulnerable to uncharacteristically large wildfires. Poorly managed forests can alter the carbon storage and sequestration balance.
Hunters and anglers are already advocating for reforestation, active management of young stands, and conservation of late-successional forests, because these measures promote diverse habitat conditions, reduce fire risk, and filter polluted runoff that would otherwise harm trout and salmon streams. But these are also natural climate solutions. One of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s s top priorities this year is pushing decision-makers to ensure that savings from the recent wildfire funding fix will go toward forest health and management. This is just one step toward securing more of the habitat and climate benefits of our national forests.
Reverse Grasslands Loss
Native grasslands are being lost at an alarming rate due to agricultural conversion, development, and other factors. Just like forests, degraded western rangelands and grasslands are less resilient to temperature and weather changes, and their carbon storage and sequestering benefits are altered as more habitat damage is done. Invasive species like cheatgrass now dominate many sagebrush landscapes and have dramatically altered this ecosystem’s productivity, stability, and fire regime.
But grasslands and shrub communities also absorb huge amounts of carbon.
Restoration and conservation of rangelands and grasslands will be an important component of a broad-scale, comprehensive habitat and climate resilience strategy. We need to stop converting these habitats and focus on restoring grasslands to increase their resilience and productivity.
Conserve and Restore Wetlands
Wetland Ducks. Photo Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Inland and coastal wetlands, marshes, estuaries, swamps, deltas, and floodplains are among nature’s most productive ecosystems—providing vital habitat for migratory waterfowl and both fresh and saltwater species of gamefish—that also store carbon.
Wetlands across the country already provide critical habitat, reduce erosion, improve water quality, and filter flood waters to protect our communities. But they are also being lost—drained, developed, converted to crops, or damaged beyond repair.
Globally, wetlands may presently sequester as much as 700 billion tons of carbon each year. Once drained or partially dried, these areas may become a net source of methane and carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. They are also particularly vulnerable to climate change. Rising temperatures and increased drought can convert permanent wetlands to semi-permanent or seasonal ones.
We need to protect our remaining wetlands and reverse the loss while restoring those that have been altered to help meet the nation’s goals for flood control, clean water, habitat, and carbon reduction.
Boost Farm Bill Conservation Programs
Roughly 40 percent of the United States is in agricultural production. This sector represents about 9 percent of all carbon emissions, but farmers and ranchers also contribute significantly to carbon storage and sequestration when they manage and preserve grasslands, wetlands, and forests.
Our community is already preparing to work with Congress on a 2023 Farm Bill with strong conservation funding, and this would give landowners more of a chance to contribute to climate change solutions, as well. Increasing Conservation Reserve Program acreage to 50 million acres, for example, would enhance the habitat benefits for whitetail and mule deer, prairie chickens, pheasants, quail, wild turkeys, waterfowl, and countless other species—not to mention provide better hunting and fishing experiences for the sportsmen and women who rely on CRP lands for access.
Boosting the CRP would also give landowners the option to conserve grasslands and wetlands that combat climate change. Expanding this and other conservation programs would be a great starting point for strengthening the role that private landowners play in the climate fight.
Continue the Gulf Coast Comeback
Whiskey Island. Photo Credit: Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
Rising seas have already destroyed thousands of miles of coastline and hundreds of thousands of acres of coastal salt marshes and seagrass beds that are vital to many sportfish and waterfowl. Louisiana’s more seasoned duck hunters can likely point to actual ground they once hunted that has now been lost.
The good news is that building coastal infrastructure is a viable solution to fight these catastrophic losses.
Reparation funds from the BP oil spill have already helped to rebuild habitat health beyond what was damaged in the environmental disaster and recover some of what has been lost to subsidence, erosion, and sea-level rise.
The continued conservation and restoration of these habitats can help save lives and protect coastal communities, while providing healthier fisheries, cleaner water, and enhancing resilience to climate change. We need to ensure federal programs and funding are available to identify areas for protection, restoration, or management and to develop effective strategies to sustain the natural benefits of coastal habitats.
Shore Up Streambanks
One of the most obvious impacts of climate change for America’s anglers is rising water temperatures that threaten coldwater trout species. This is compounded in places where streams have been degraded by major floods, wildfires, dam construction and land-use changes. Many conservation volunteers cut their teeth on projects aimed at restoring healthy stream flows, reducing streambank erosion, and ultimately lowering water temperatures, but they may not realize riparian areas have an underappreciated ability to store carbon, both in vegetation and the soil itself.
At the federal level, we will need to invest in numerous solutions to build resilient river systems and ensure our lakes, rivers, and streams are able to function as productive carbon sinks while also supporting the fish and wildlife we love to pursue. Programs and policies emphasizing water conservation, water efficiency, nutrient reductions, and riparian zone protection and restoration will be critical.
Let Habitat Work
Any national climate strategy must include land- and water-based solutions that harness the power of our natural systems. But, as you can see, these habitat improvements are already on our wish list as a conservation community.
It’s important to note that these actions will not only benefit fish and wildlife, enhance soil quality, and create cleaner water—they will also create jobs and strengthen rural economies. But there is no time to waste, whether we’re talking about implementing natural climate solutions, reversing habitat loss and wildlife species declines, or putting Americans back to work through conservation. We have to stop debating about resolving climate change and get to work on implementing these straightforward natural solutions. Let’s allow habitat to contribute all it can to the climate fight.
Ed Arnett is the Chief Scientist at Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
We should all applaud President Biden’s executive order calling for conservation of 30% of the U.S. land base by 2030. This bold “30×30” vision is firmly rooted in science, given that protected land is key to a healthy and secure future for all Americans. It provides pure drinking water, healthy food, clean air, habitat for wildlife, and places for people to reflect, recreate, hunt and fish. Conserved land also provides protection from natural disasters, such as floods and droughts, and absorbs and keeps carbon from the Earth’s atmosphere.
The president’s vision also recognizes that land conservation is not keeping pace with growing threats to our lands, waters, wildlife and ways of life. Every 30 seconds, the United States loses a football field of natural lands to roads, houses, pipelines and other development. Since 1970, North America has lost 3 billion birds — 29% of its avian population. Forty acres of farmland in the United States are lost to development every hour.
Given these facts, the audaciousness of the president’s conservation goal is right for this moment. And this “moon shot” for nature is necessary for more than just environmental reasons: Land — and the public’s desire to conserve it — provides one of the few opportunities to reduce political polarization and build social cohesion among a deeply splintered American populace. This was demonstrated most recently in the strong bipartisan consensus last Congress that led to the permanent reauthorization and full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
In particular, land conservation that takes place outside of the government sphere — through community-based, nonprofit organizations known as land trusts — provides a means for Americans of all backgrounds to save the places they need and love through personal initiative, landowner empowerment and charity. By finding common ground around these core American values and the lands we cherish, we can regain a sense of shared purpose and help heal a fractured nation. To put it in terms used by President Biden in his inaugural address, America’s farms and forests, its rivers and coasts and its mountains and meadows are “common objects of our love.” Conserving these places through citizen-led community efforts can bring us back together.
Photo Credit: Tila Zimmerman/TNC
Most Americans are unaware that land trusts — powered by more than 200,000 volunteers and almost 5 million members of all political stripes — are working in almost every community in the United States to protect important lands. Likewise, few know that the nation’s land trust community has conserved approximately 60 million acres over the past 40 years — an area larger than all the land contained in America’s National Parks.
President Biden’s executive order tacitly acknowledged that to reach the 30×30 goal, we must rely on and bolster this community of nonprofits.
In short, we cannot achieve the 30×30 goal only by adding to the federal estate; we must empower private landowners to conserve their natural and working lands at a much greater pace and scale. Land trusts are uniquely qualified to make that happen and, importantly, they can do so in an inclusive and equitable way.
On behalf of the 1,000 land trusts my organization represents, I pledge that we will conserve at least another 60 million acres by the end of this decade. To do so, we need the help of the federal government. I call on President Biden and leaders in Congress to provide increased support to land trusts and the private landowners with whom they work. This includes protecting the integrity of the federal tax incentive for conservation easement donations; increasing mandatory funding for Farm Bill conservation programs that maintain viable working farms, ranches and forests; and creating mechanisms to compensate landowners when they increase the capacity of their lands to absorb and store carbon.
Kernza®, a wheat-like grain being developed as a perennial cereal crop by The Land Institute, a nonprofit research organization based at Salina, Kansas, ripens in a breeding plot. Photo Credit: The Land Institute
Think about the foods and beverages you consume every day. Perhaps you start the morning off with a bowl of cereal, have a sandwich or salad for lunch and a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs for dinner – capped off by a cold, refreshing beer. The grains, vegetables and meats that are used to produce these foods all have a carbon footprint. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, agricultural lands are responsible for just under 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Now let’s focus on that cold beer you’re holding in your hand. In addition to the carbon generated by growing the crops needed to make beer, producing, packaging, shipping and selling the product also generates carbon. The State of Oregon estimated that beer consumption in just the Beaver State generates more than 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year – the same amount emitted by 42,800 vehicles.
There are a lot of things that can be done to make beer more sustainable, from more energy efficient manufacturing and shipping to improved crop management. However, one innovative partnership on the West Coast decided to get to the very root of the problem – and the results taste great.
What is a climate-friendly beer?
Long Root Ale. Photo Credit: Hopworks Urban Brewery
I don’t claim to be an expert on rating and reviewing beer. I know I’m not a fan of pale ales, but I enjoy a witbier after a bike ride on a warm summer day. I’ll drink any stout you put in front of me, and one can often find a hearty Belgian-style ale in my refrigerator. I even make my own beer on occasion, with decent enough results. I also have the good fortune to live in Portland, Oregon – a mecca for the craft brewing industry.
I like trying interesting beers produced by the countless craft breweries that have popped up around the country. The proliferation of beer flavors and styles over the last few decades has been astounding. When I read that Patagonia Provisions partnered with Portland’s Hopworks Urban Brewery and The Land Institute to create climate-friendly beer, I was intrigued – both professionally and as a beer lover.
My professional interest in this product is rooted in my role as the project manager for U.S. Nature4Climate – a coalition of 10 environmental NGOs and organizations dedicated to sustainable agriculture, forestry and business practices that are working together to ensure our forests, farms, ranches, grasslands and wetlands are an important part of our strategy to combat climate change.
Part of my job is to identify and share “solutions in action” – case studies that highlight innovative and practical actions that farmers, forest owners, corporations and non-profit organizations have taken that can serve as examples for future climate action. Simply put, we want to tell the stories of those who have developed more climate-friendly ways to grow crops, plant trees, protect land – and make beer.
The simple fact is that ours is a beer-loving nation. According to the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the average American over 21 drank nearly 26 gallons of beer in 2019. Figuring out how to make beer in a more sustainable way has the potential to have a meaningful impact on climate change. Moreover, a successful climate-friendly beer could help spur the development of other climate-friendly products, like bread and cereal. There is growing demand in this realm -for example, food producer General Mills, has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and advance regenerative farming techniques on 1 million acres of farmland by 2030.
How can beer help the environment?
Kernza® scientist Lee DeHaan records field data on a portable computer. With him is his son, Malachi DeHaan, a summer employee who here is measuring plant height. Photo Credit: The Land Institute
The partnership between Patagonia Provisions, Hopworks and The Land Institute has produced two new beers, called “Long Root Pale Ale” and “Long Root Wit.” Both beers are made using a long-rooted perennial grain called Kernza that uses less water, requires less tilling, prevents soil erosion and stores more carbon in the ground than conventional grains. “The ecological promises of perennial grains are robust,” explains Rachel Stroer, the Acting President of The Land Institute. “This new technology, perenniality, represents the closest grain agriculture can come to functioning like natural ecosystems and our best shot, in my opinion, at sustaining human life on this planet for generations to come.”
According to the CarbonShot report recently released by the World Resources Institute (WRI), enhancing the root systems of major U.S. crops to add carbon to the soil at the same rate as perennial grasses has the potential to improve soil quality and reduce erosion of valuable topsoil. If widely adopted, this practice would sequester up to 185 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. That’s equivalent to removing more than 36 million cars off the road for a year.
However, implementing this climate solution at a large scale will require extensive work. WRI’s report classed enhanced root crops as a “speculative bet,” meaning that significant investment in overcoming technical and economic barriers is necessary before this solution can be counted on to sequester game-changing amounts of CO2. As noted in the report, widespread use of enhanced crops will require advancements in breeding processes that produce consistent crop yields on par with what conventional crops are able to produce, while also maintaining flavor and other characteristics that consumers expect.
“More investment is needed for research and development to better understand the feasible potential of this approach and expand efforts to other crop species, and then to accelerate development of those that provide climate benefits,” explains Katie Lebling, an Associate with WRI’s Climate Program.
The creation of “Long Root” beer shows that this research and development process is already underway. The Land Institute and numerous research collaborators (including my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison) have spent nearly two decades developing the Kernza grain. Now that the research team has developed the grain, they are working with restaurants, bakeries and breweries to integrate Kernza into food and beverages. “Thanks in part to the tenacity of our donor base and our scientists, employees, and partners, we’ve really proven that this idea that we can have high-yielding grain crops with deep perennial root systems that sequester carbon and steward water is biologically possible, notes The Land Institute’s Rachel Stroer. “And now we see our first perennial grain crops on the landscape in production and on plates.”
Why are partnerships like this important?
Intern Madeline DeBois selects Kernza® heads for harvest in a breeding plot at The Land Institute. The Institute is developing the wheat-like Kernza® as a perennial grain crop. Photo Credit: The Land Institute
Transforming a climate-friendly crop like Kernza into everyday consumer products requires strong partnerships with companies dedicated to developing more sustainable foods. Patagonia Provisions and Hopworks Urban Brewery recognized the potential to leverage beer’s popularity to demonstrate practical and scalable uses for the crop. As Birgit Cameron, the head of Patagonia Provisions notes:
“Beer holds a critical role in society and history. It is the center of many tables, uniting us with its common language. With its wonderful tradition and history of bringing people together, Patagonia Provisions saw an opportunity to use such a widely influential product to tell the story of regenerative organic agriculture, via Kernza, to a wide swath of people with a product we can all enjoy and get behind. All it takes is a small tweak in the way we make our beer to effect big change – we are hoping this message reaches the big brewers of the world.”
Christian Ettinger, the Founder & Brewmaster of Hopworks Urban Brewery hopes that the introduction of products like “Long Root” beer can help encourage greater focus on sustainable solutions to climate change and other environmental problems.
The author enjoyed a Long Root Wit while writing this article. Photo Credit: Nathan Henry
“We’re constantly working to brew more sustainably, whether it’s reducing and treating wastewater, partnering with Patagonia Provisions and The Land Institute, or supporting our local nonprofit partners focused on the environment! What better way to inspire grassroots change than through a discussion over beer! Beer’s job is to get people together and we hope the Long Root beers will inspire many fun discussions over the campfire.”
But how does the beer taste?
Simply put, Long Root Wit was a delicious beer – it was light, refreshing, and hit the spot after a long autumn bike ride. If you poured me a glass of it without telling me that the beer was made using Kernza, I never would have known. There were no awkward flavor notes that would suggest that I was drinking something “different.” This beer shows that you can make a climate-friendly beer without sacrificing flavor. If that’s not a climate solution in action, I don’t know what is.
Nathan Henry is the Project Manager for U.S. Nature4Climate.
California has long been a place that set trends. From celebrities to surfing, the nation has long looked West to follow California’s lead. And, of course, California has also been a global leader in attacking climate change.
Driven, in part, by record-breaking floods and fire seasons, the world’s fifth-largest economy has adopted numerous policies to curb emissions. In 2006, California adopted its first economy-wide greenhouse gas reduction goal to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, which it has achieved. That initial action has been followed by other policies, including setting a low carbon fuel standard, sustainable communities strategies, a renewable energy portfolio, and mobilizing state agencies in the effort to reach a carbon-neutral economy by 2045.
California is also well-known for its greenhouse gas emissions trading program, which places a declining emissions cap on major-emitting facilities and allows these facilities to trade emissions permits and invest in a limited amount of emissions offsets to meet reductions goals.
But what is California’s next climate action milestone? Using California’s world-class nature to help address climate change.
For California to successfully and effectively integrate nature-based strategies into its goal to be carbon neutral, we need to understand their potential contribution to greenhouse gas reductions across the state. We also need to understand and identify the various policy pathways and incentives, beyond offsets, that could be pursued to support these reductions. The Roadmap shows how we can accomplish just that.
Pulling together the science analyses published by The Nature Conservancy and colleagues, we estimate the statewide greenhouse gas reduction potential of thirteen different nature-based climate strategies, ranging from agricultural management practices, to improved forest management and wetland restoration to fire risk reduction and urban reforestation. We present this in a spatially explicit way that also identifies the opportunities to achieve additional benefits through these actions, including habitat for species, groundwater recharge, and benefits to underserved communities, among others. We then highlight case studies and a policy discussion by region across the state to highlight a number of different policies and incentives that could be scaled up across the state to accelerate nature-based climate strategies.
While we acknowledge that increased funding for nature-based strategies is critical, we make it a point to highlight additional “non-monetary” strategies that are important to accelerate action, including:
Improvements to permitting processes to restore wetlands and reduce fire risk,
Land use and conservation policies that could be adjusted to support both avoided emissions from land conversion and reductions in transportation emissions, and
Public-private partnerships between public agencies and utilities that could fund urban reforestation at larger scale and reduce the tree canopy gap in underserved communities
As discussions regarding how California can reach its carbon neutrality goals continue in the California legislature and Administration, we will continue to use this report to reframe the discussion on the role and importance of nature-based climate solutions, underscore their importance in achieving carbon neutrality, and highlight how we can get there. While the focus of this report is on California, the issues we face here, and their relevance can extend to other jurisdictions in the United States and globally.
Michelle Passero is the Director of California Climate Program for The Nature Conservancy.
The USN4C Blog will regularly feature blog posts written by members of the U.S. Nature4Climate Steering Committee highlighting the reasons their organization chose to join the U.S. Nature4Climate coalition. This month’s post is written by Cathy Macdonald, The Nature Conservancy’s North America Director of Natural Climate Solutions and the Chair of the USN4C Steering Committee.
Cathy Macdonald, North America Director of Natural Climate Solutions at The Nature Conservancy, Chair of U.S. Nature4Climate Steering Committee
Growing up in Oregon, I developed a lifelong love of natural and working lands – from exploring Oregon’s coastal estuaries, rafting Oregon’s many rivers, and climbing Oregon’s iconic Cascade Mountains, to picking strawberries and cherries in summers to earn my first paychecks, and planting trees to help the Tillamook State Forest heal from major wildfires. Working for The Nature Conservancy, I have been able to carry my passion for the outdoors into my career. And in my time working for The Nature Conservancy, I have learned two important lessons.
First and foremost, I know the natural places I cherished as child and have worked to protect these past decades are at increasing risk to due to climate change. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has long recognized the enormous impact climate change will have on our mission – to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. That is why we support strong, comprehensive action to address the climate challenge.
There is no question that, to avoid the irrecoverable impacts of climate change we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all energy and industrial sectors. But we won’t ultimately succeed unless we also unlock the power of our forests, farms, grasslands and wetlands to naturally remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in plants and soils.
Evening paddlers on Sparks Lake along the beautiful Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway in Bend, Oregon. Photo credit: Paul Carew
Our country’s natural and working lands already reduce total U.S. emissions by 11 percent. By increasing our investment in the protection and restoration of native habitats and managing our country’s forests and farms in ways that store more carbon, we could more than double the contribution natural and working lands make to address climate change.
In addition to their climate benefits, these “Natural Climate Solutions” help enhance soil health and agricultural productivity, improve water and air quality and provide landowners and surrounding communities with jobs and new sources of income. These practices also help preserve our nation’s rich biological diversity. In short, Natural Climate Solutions help The Nature Conservancy fulfill our vision of a world where people and nature thrive.
The second thing I have learned during my career with TNC is that the best solutions to conservation challenges happen when diverse stakeholders work together. That’s why The Nature Conservancy joined forces with environmental, agricultural, conservation and sustainable business organizations to create the U.S. Nature4Climate Coalition.
The purpose of our coalition is to elevate the role Natural Climate Solutions can play as a critical component of a comprehensive climate action plan for the U.S.
Despite the enormous contribution Natural Climate Solutions can make to improve our environment, our livelihoods and our climate outlook, the power of natural and working lands are too often overlooked.
Through the U.S. Nature4Climate coalition we can share the best information on the role that natural and working lands can play and use our extended networks to educate others involved in addressing climate change about the untapped potential of Natural Climate Solutions. Our coalition serves as a force multiplier in our efforts to marshal nature in efforts to slow climate change.
Catherine Macdonald is the North America Director of Natural Climate Solutions at The Nature Conservancy and the Chair of the USN4C Steering Committee.
U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action “Food Farm Facts” Podcast
In November 2020, U.S. Nature4Climate was proud to participate in U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action’s “Food Farm Facts” podcast, which is dedicated to bringing together sustainability thought leaders in the food and agriculture sector, with special attention paid to the farmers and ranchers who are taking action to make U.S. agriculture more sustainable.
The podcast discussed the work U.S. Nature4Climate is doing to facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration to increase support for Natural Climate Solutions. The episode also featured the perspectives of small forest-owner Rebecca Tuuk and Maryland farmer and Chair of U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action Chip Bowling, who discussed how forest owners, farmers, corporations and non-profit organizations are working together to share lessons learned and adopt best practices as landowners.
During the episode, Cathy Macdonald, the Chair of U.S. Nature4Climate Coalition’s Steering Committee, spoke about the un-tapped potential of Natural Climate Solutions to play a key role in efforts to rein in climate change.
“Unfortunately, natural and working lands are not often thought about by the people that are focused on advancing climate mitigation. Investments in Natural Climate Solutions have been much lower than investments and other important climate mitigation strategies. By being able to pull together a diverse set of organizations and great networks like U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action, we’re hoping we can do more to kind of elevate the importance of natural and working lands,” Macdonald said.
Bowling highlighted why they chose to become involved in the U.S. Nature4Climate coalition: “We knew as an organization and as a board that someone had to take the lead on climate change and how we’re going to change it as agriculture.”
Bowling sounded a hopeful note about U.S. agriculture’s future role in addressing climate change. “I think [in five years] we’re in a better place than where we are now because we’re doing practices that are making a difference. We understand now that what we’re doing, we have the data and science tells the truth that how we’re farming and where we’re farming does make a difference.”
Outdoor Industry Association’s “Climate Klatch” Podcast
Another recently launched podcast, the Outdoor Industry Association’s “Climate Klatch,” highlighted the Outdoor Industry Association’s support for Natural Climate Solutions as part of our overall strategy to address climate change. The podcast featured Amy Horton, OIA’s Sustainable Market Innovation, who highlighted the outdoor recreation industry’s support for natural climate solutions as a key climate strategy.
“We support [carbon] sequestration as part of a comprehensive solution to climate change that also includes reducing emissions,” Horton said. “We’re asking Congress and federal agencies to protect and preserve our country’s lands and waters as Natural Climate Solutions, so the forests, farms, wetlands, grasslands have the potential to absorb more than 20% of greenhouse gas pollution in the United States – equivalent to the emissions from all U.S. vehicles.”
These podcasts highlighted the diverse and growing coalition supporting Natural Climate Solutions – a coalition that includes environmental organizations, farmers, forest owners, sustainability-focused businesses and the outdoor recreation industry.
“There are also some really unique coalitions forming that we in the outdoor industry are participating in alongside your traditional conservation and land groups, the hunting and fishing community, farming and ranchers. We’re all coming together to promote what are called natural climate solutions,” Horton said, mentioning U.S. Nature4Climate and Conservations for Climate Solutions as two examples.
Nathan Henry is the Project Manager for U.S. Nature4Climate.
