Highlights
US seeks to leverage nature in climate fight
Roadmap recognizes need for monitoring and verification
As part of its effort to marshal US forests in the fight against climate change, the Biden administration released its Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap during the UN Climate Change Conference that pledges $25 billion to maximize the carbon absorption potential of natural resources.
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The roadmap, released Nov. 8, is the first strategy the US has developed to scale up domestic nature-based solutions. It will be submitted to the administration’s National Climate Task Force, a group of cabinet members and high-ranking White House officials to coordinate the admonition’s climate agenda.
“Today’s announcement affirms the critical role that the conservation of nature plays in fighting climate change, and the fact that these issues are two sides of the same coin,” World Wildlife Fund VP Marcene Mitchell said in response to the White House announcement.
The White House will direct federal agencies to ensure over $25 billion in infrastructure and climate funding to support nature-based solutions. As submitted, the roadmap focuses on five areas of focus: updating policies, unlocking additional funding, leading with federal facilities and assets, training a nature-based solutions workforce and amping up research and innovation.
According to the WWF’s Living Planet Report of 2022, biodiversity in North America declined by 20% between 1970 and 2018, and those losses diminish the continent’s carbon capture capabilities.
“Without the power of nature-based solutions, our climate goals will be out of reach, which is why this roadmap from the administration is so welcomed and needed,” Mitchell said.
Catalyzing private carbon offsets
The roadmap’s goal of unlocking additional funding for nature-based solutions includes searching for more ways to leverage financing from the private sector. According to the roadmap, private sector financing comprises just 11% of all spending on nature-based projects among G20 countries, which amounts to about $14 billion per year.
The White House recognizes that there should be a role for offset markets to play in expanding