Climate Change - What We Support: Supporting Strong Legislation in the United States

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Conservancy Strongly Supports Legislation
The House and Senate have introduce climate change legislation that will reduce our global warming pollution and protect our communities against the devastating impacts of climate change. Fund out why we cannot let this opportunity pass.

U.S. Climate Action Partnership
We are a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of major corporations and leading environmental organizations urging the federal government to enact legislation that sets a “regulated economy-wide, market-driven approach to climate protection.”

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.

The The Nature 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.

Reducing emissions

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.:

Recognizing the Value of Forest Carbon

Forest carbon provisions will play a critical role in reducing emissions cost-effectively and sequestering carbon. U.S. legislation should

support the role of carbon markets under a U.S. cap-and-trade system to reduce the roughly 20 percent of total emissions caused by deforestation;
support forest and ecosystem restoration to maximize natural lands’ ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere; and
provide funding for market readiness, so that developing countries can participate in carbon markets.

Reforestation can absorb up to 3.5 billion tons of global CO2 emissions annually through 2030. Credits from reforestation projects that have been independently verified as being real, permanent, and measurable should be allowed into U.S. and international carbon markets.

Funding Adaptation for Fish and Wildlife

The Funding for state and federal natural resource planning, management and protection of land and waters will be critical to improving the resiliency of natural places to the impacts of climate change.

Similarly, the U.S. should support efforts to protect communities in developing countries that face the most severe impacts from climate change using natural strategies where possible. Providing dedicated funding for this purpose is not just good conservation, it will also be critical to obtaining an international climate agreement that gains the support of all major emitting countries.

With your help, we can reduce the impacts of climate change on our lives, on our environment and on future generations.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Harvey Payne (Bison in tall grass prairie); Mark Godfrey/TNC (visitors at the Piney Grove Preserve of Southeastern Virginia)