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		Climate Change Climate Change and Global Warming What's New The Impacts of Climate Change Climate Change and Biodiversity: An Interactive Map What You Can Do:   Carbon Footprint Calculator   Voluntary Carbon   Offset Program   Climate-Saving Tips   Get the Facts   Take a Quiz   Get our e-Newsletter   Donate now What We Do:   Stop Deforestation   Adapt to Impacts   Support Policy Where We Work on Climate Change Contact Us Press Releases Tell us what you think about climate change

Our Policy by Issue Emissions reductions Forest carbon Adaptation Our Policy Engagement International Federal State and regional Go Deeper 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.” Conservancy Comments Recent perspectives from The Nature Conservancy on legislation and regulations dealing with climate change: The Nature Conservancy Commends Advance of Lieberman-Warner Bill The Nature Conservancy Welcomes Lieberman-Warner bill on climate change 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?

The Nature Conservancy is calling on the United States government to quickly enact strong national legislation to address climate change.

 

Reducing emissions

The Conservancy is working to support mandatory policies to reduce emissions from all economic sectors by:

• Creating a strong, cost-effective cap on emissions. It is critical that the world immediately start to make significant reductions in emissions. It may be necessary to keep warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 deg Fahrenheit) to avoid the most significant harms to people and nature.
  
  The Conservancy has embraced USCAP's call for a 60 percent to 80 percent reduction in emissions from current levels by 2050, but we strongly urge policymakers to reach for an 80 percent reduction in emissions by midcentury. Even with these reductions, scientists warn that climate change will pose continued risks to plants, animals and people.
• Implementing a well-designed, market-based program, such as a cap-and-trade program, that will spur innovation and allow companies to meet emission reduction goals at the lowest possible cost.
• Establishing emission reduction policies that address all major emitting sectors.

Recognizing the Value of Forest Carbon

The Conservancy encourages the use of credits for forest conservation and restoration within a market-based emission reduction program. A cap-and-trade program should:
 

• Include credits from forest carbon projects and activities in the United States and in developing countries.
• Recognize forest carbon credits as interchangeable with credits from other emission reduction activities.
• Require forest credits that represent real, permanent, and verifiable emission reductions, with reliable measuring, monitoring and accounting for leakage.
• Encourage forest carbon projects and activities to produce broad benefits for the environment and promote sustainable development objectives.

   

Including incentives for land conservation and restoration in a cap-and-trade program can help lower the overall compliance costs of such a system, increase support for the program, and allow for more aggressive emission reduction goals.

Funding Adaptation for Fish and Wildlife

The Conservancy is calling for setting aside a significant portion of the revenue generated from the sale of emissions allowances to help natural areas adapt to the impacts of climate change. This revenue would fund efforts to:
 

• Create programs that research and monitor climate change impacts

   

• Acquire, protect, manage, and enhance federal land that will be significantly altered by climate change
•  Support programs to help natural areas most vulnerable to climate change — such as coastal areas and coral reefs — adapt to climate change; and 

• Implement strong adaptation plans with science and nature as an integral part of the planning process.

Legislation introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman and John Warner would dedicate 20 percent of the revenue generated from a national greenhouse gas cap and trade program to help natural areas adapt to climate change, resulting in more than $2 billion per year in dedicated conservation funding.

Pursuing Comprehensive Climate Change Policy

We work towards our climate change policy goals in close collaboration with scientists and our many conservation partners. We also engage in policy discussions through:

• Membership in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (US-CAP), a broad-based coalition of close to three dozen major companies and environmental and conservation organizations calling on Congress to enact comprehensive climate change legislation.
• Other coalitions and dialogues with diverse partners to build consensus on key legislative issues.
• Expert testimony before legislative panels and federal agencies detailing possible policy solutions and supporting the passage of federal climate change legislation.
• Suggestions on legislative language and programs in our areas of expertise.
• Engagement of our state-based network of trustees, supporters and members who care about the impacts of climate change on the Conservancy’s mission.

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).