Summary:
To address the confusion that persists about the specific set of land stewardship options available and their mitigation potential, the authors of Natural Climate Solutions identified and quantified 20 conservation, restoration, and improved land management actions that increase carbon storage and/or avoid greenhouse gas emissions across global forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands.
Key Takeaways
- Natural climate solutions can provide 37% of cost-effective CO2 mitigation needed through 2030 for a >66% chance of holding warming to below 2 °C.
- Forest pathways offer over two-thirds of cost-effective NCS mitigation needed to hold warming to below 2 °C and about half of low-cost mitigation opportunities, and reforestation is the largest natural pathway and deserves more attention to identify low-cost mitigation opportunities.
- Despite the large potential of natural climate solutions, land-based sequestration efforts receive only about 2.5% of climate mitigation dollars.