The Conservancy is calling for federal legislation in the United States that will:

• Reduce carbon dioxide emissions using a mandatory national cap-and trade program for greenhouse gases with strong emission caps that achieve at least an 80 percent reduction in U.S. emissions by 2050, to stabilize greenhouse gases at levels that will protect biodiversity and limit climate change.

• Provide incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation and land use change and sequester additional emissions by restoring forests. This should include both market and non-market components to support international and domestic forest carbon efforts.

• Establish funding for natural adaptation strategies, both in the U.S. and in developing nations, to help human and natural communities cope with the impacts of climate change.

We are a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of major corporations and leading environmental organizations urging the federal government to enact legislation requiring significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

In January 2009, USCAP unveiled a comprehensive Blueprint for legislative action, outlining recommendations to the U.S. Congress and the Administration on how to fight climate change. The package calls for the creation of a federal cap-and-trade system that includes tough timelines and targets for emissions reductions. It also allows companies to meet their caps by supporting forest carbon projects, and it calls for dedicated funding to support adaptation projects around the world.

International Policy Frameworks

The Conservancy is working with world leaders to build support for an international climate change agreement that includes all major emitters and sources of emissions, including deforestation.  We also advocate for funding to implement nature-based adaptation strategies to help buffer the impacts of climate change on people.

U.S. State and Regional

In the United States, state and regional efforts are catalyzing efforts in Congress to establish federal climate change legislation. The Conservancy is helping develop and design of state- and region-wide emission reduction strategies.

For example, The Nature Conservancy worked with policy makers and other stakeholders to establish a model rule for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) that will require significant emission reductions in the Northeast. And in California, the Conservancy provided insight and direction for the state’s landmark climate law, AB 32, which established a comprehensive regulatory and market system to achieve real, quantifiable and cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases.

Climate change picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Mark Godfrey/TNC (oil refineries); Photo © Mark Godfrey/TNC (forest).