N4C Weekly Briefing - September 14-20, 2022

Can we build a carbon market that values nature and rewards local stewardship?

Mongabay, Rod Taylor and Kavita Prakash-Mani and Giulia Carbone, 15 September

Mongabay publishes a commentary piece from leaders at World Resources Institute, the Natural Climate Solutions Alliance and the former CEO of Mandai Nature highlighting the enormous potential for NBS carbon credits to help achieve the Paris Agreement goals, support natural ecosystems, and secure the rights and livelihoods of Indigenous peoples and local communities. Carbon Pulse carries a comment from the Managing Director of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations that argues buyers and market participants should look positively on the news on the news that Gabon will soon come to market with an offering of 90 million tonnes of "sovereign" carbon credits, although many of those market participants have raised a number of serious concerns around misleading claims from the Redd.Plus initiative (led by CfRN) that is marketing the credits, many of which are repeated in this commentary piece. ESG Investor dives into the opportunity that voluntary carbon markets can give for climate action, but also addresses their potential pitfalls. Carbon Pulse reports that some countries' move to clamp down and prevent the sale of carbon offsets could create significant risk for voluntary carbon markets. 

‘Ray of hope’: Activists hail EU’s pioneering anti-deforestation law

Euractiv, Samuel Petrequin, 14 September

Euractiv carries a commentary by environmental activists who highlight that specific measures ensuring a just transition for smallholders towards sustainable, deforestation-free products that respect their rights and does not saddle them with extra burdens will be vital for anti-deforestation legislation in the EU to be ultimately successful. The initial list, which included cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya and wood, was extended to cover pigmeat, sheep and goats, poultry, maize and rubber, as well as charcoal and printed paper products. The law will now be sent forward for final approval in three-way talks involving the European Commission, the European Parliament and the EU’s 27 national governments. covers the response from activists who welcomed the strong regulation requiring companies to ensure products sold in the EU do not come from deforested or degraded land. The Parliament’s text broadens the list of products and commodities covered in the European Commission’s original proposal, presented in November last year. 

Another breakthrough was reached last week, Reuters reports that Indonesia and Norway have agreed to start a new (REDD+) partnership to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation in the Southeast Asian country after Jakarta ended a similar pact last year citing a lack of payments.

Michael Strahan is embracing ‘nature tech’ — why you should care

GreenBiz, Heather Clancy, 15 September

GreenBiz covers Nature4Climate's new white paper on the growing "nature tech" sector: a broad range of applied and information technologies focused on helping scale nature-based solutions to climate change. GreenBiz's 350 Podcast also covers the topic of nature tech and the numerous types of solutions that fit under its umbrella.

U.S. farm agency to triple investment in climate-friendly farming

Reuters, Leah Douglas, 14 September

Reuters reports that the US Department of Agriculture has announced it will invest nearly $3 billion in projects to reduce climate-harming emissions from farming and forestry, tripling the funding it had initially envisioned for the program. Farming generates nearly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. The program will fund 70 projects across 50 states and Puerto Rico that would encourage farmers to cut emissions in various ways. This would include planting cover crops to enhance soil health and absorb carbon, improving manure management to cut methane emissions, and collecting data on environmentally friendly beef and bison grazing practices. Politico reports that the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups are unhappy with the investment plan, arguing that it will "line the pockets of the biggest climate polluters in agriculture." BusinessGreen and E&E News also cover the announcement.

Axios reports that nonprofit Winrock International will lead to a $20 million project to support U.S. farmers and ranchers to adopt climate-smart practices and capitalize on their climate value. The five-year project will develop and pilot a farmer-friendly system to generate producer-owned agricultural GHG Certificates, issued and tracked in a public registry, that producers can monetize through commodity markets for corporate buyers, enabling them to achieve and substantiate supply chain and net zero climate strategies. NPR reports that US farmers are diverging from Republican politicians on climate change in the face of increasing funds to pursue climate-smart agriculture that encourages emissions reductions and soil carbon sequestration.

Path to safe climate goes through nature — and now there’s a roadmap

Axios, 20 September

Axios covers the release a new report released by Conservation International and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, “The Exponential Roadmap for Natural Climate Solutions,” that lays out a new benchmark: the “Carbon Law for Nature.” Rooted in the latest climate science, this benchmark states that everyone with a land-sector footprint – particularly companies, banks and governments – must reach net-zero emissions by 2030 and collectively achieve a 10-gigaton (Gt) carbon sink by 2050 across that footprint. Currently, the balance of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sinks from the land sector emits a net total of about 12 Gt of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year that must decrease – then reverse – by 2050.

How Nature Tech can help us solve the climate and nature crises

Through monitoring and measuring, Nature Tech can help address the challenges of climate change and nature loss, supporting global sustainability goals. Given the point we are at in these crises, we need all the innovation, speed, and scalability that technology can offer to bring us back on a path toward a stable and nature-abundant planet. 

A new white paper written by the Nature4Climate Nature Tech partner group helps answer important questions such as: What is Nature Tech? Why does Nature Tech matter? How can Nature Tech help us with both the nature and climate crises?  and much more.

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