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Our Policy by Issue
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Go Deeper
The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
Read more on why The Nature Conservancy helped launch the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Visit The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility online.
We Want to Hear from You
Tell us what you think about our climate change work. What national or international policies should be implemented to fight climate change?
What’s Your Impact?
Get an estimate of your carbon footprint using the Conservancy’s carbon footprint calculator and see how you compare to U.S. and global averages.
Strong emissions reductions are critical to protecting biodiversity and the natural places that support human well-being.
The primary driver of climate change is increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. Driven by human activities, carbon dioxide concentrations are now at their highest level in over 650,000 years, outweighing all other factors that contribute to climate change.
Motor vehicles, power plants, buildings and industrial sources produce about 80 percent of greenhouse gases while forest loss and degradation, along with other land use change contribute the balance.
Specific and Attainable Targets
As a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), The Nature Conservancy supports the following emissions reduction targets and timetables:
- 97 percent of 2005 levels by 2012,
- 80 percent of 2005 levels by 2020,
- 58 percent of 2005 levels by 2030, and
- 20 percent of 2005 levels by 2050.
The need for action is urgent, and the Conservancy believes targets of this magnitude can and should be enacted this year in time to send a signal to other countries that would enable a meaningful international agreement in Copenhagen this December involving the world’s major emitting countries.
Meaningful Commitments Abroad
Meaningful and binding legal commitments are needed to keep global warming below dangerous levels. The Conservancy is working to secure a meaningful commitment from all major emitting countries to reduce their contribution to climate change during the international climate negotiations taking place this December.
Flexible options are needed to enable developing countries to increase their efforts to reduce emissions. The most effective way to reduce emissions quickly is through strong market-based incentives. Implementing well-designed, market-based programs will spur innovation and allow countries and companies to meet emissions reduction goals at the lowest possible cost.
Global Consequences
As concentrations of greenhouse gases increase, so will the pace and severity of impacts. Around the world communities will face:
- difficulty growing crops,
- water shortages,
- ocean acidification at an extent and rate that has not occurred for tens of millions of years, and
- Sea-level rise that will displace coastal populations and damage infrastructure.
Increased coral bleaching, species range shifts, wildfire risk, and damage from floods and storms are expected at temperature increases of 2°F above current level. For the Conservancy, these changes present significant threats to our mission, and those projected beyond the 2ºF threshold are unacceptable.
Where We're Engaged:
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Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Charlie Ott (Alaskan factory); Photo © Mark Godfrey/The Nature Conservancy (traffic in Bangkok, THailand).
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