Carbon Sequestration

The Paris Agreement states that, "Parties should take action to conserve and enhance, as appropriate, sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases ... including forests." Approximately 125 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon are exchanged annually between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere (two-fifths of the total exchange of carbon between the earth and the atmosphere). Forests account for 80 percent of this exchange. U.S. forests currently serve as a carbon "sink," offsetting approximately 13 percent of U.S. emissions from burning fossil fuels in 2011, and from 10 to 20 percent of U.S. emissions each year. These ecosystems are invaluable to the U.S. for their carbon sequestration abilities and for mitigating the impacts of climate change, as well as their habitat value. It is important to create policies that ensure the carbon sequestration abilities of ecosystems are properly maintained through improved forest management and conservation that encourages both carbon sequestration and habitat conservation and restoration.

Our Goals

Alongside farmers, ranchers, and forest managers, the National Wildlife Federation is working to adopt and regularly employ practices that sequester carbon while improving wildlife habitat and natural resources. These practices include:

• Pursuing social science research and message testing to better understand rural constituent motivations and how to effectively communicate about climate change.
• Analyzing and disseminate information regarding best practices for enhancing carbon sequestration in privately-owned land and aquatic habitats, including fostering peer-to-peer dialogue.
• Supporting federal and private sector policies that encourage carbon sequestration in farming and forest management, such as through the Farm Bill and supply chain purchasing policies by commodity traders and major brands and retailers.
• Identifying opportunities to enhance “blue carbon” sequestration through wetlands and riparian habitat restoration.
• Expanding bottomland hardwood forest restoration work in the Southeast to enhance sequestration and grow habitat.
• Supporting working land conservation programs that infuse carbon into soil.
• Ensuring that the international agreements on climate change solutions include natural ecosystem conservation, and properly account for greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration from land use, such as in farming and forestry operations; ensure positive actions by farmers, ranchers, and foresters to conserve wildlife habitat, avoid nutrient pollution, and ensure soil carbon is properly counted.