Context and future directions for integrating forest carbon into sub-national climate mitigation planning in the RGGI region of the U.S.
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: International frameworks for climate mitigation that build from national actions have been developed under the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change and advanced most recently through the Paris Climate Agreement. In parallel, sub-national actors have set greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals and developed corresponding climate mitigation plans. Within the U.S., multi-state coalitions have formed to facilitate coordination of related science and policy. Here, utilizing the forum of the NASA Carbon Monitoring System’s Multi-State Working Group, we collected and reviewed climate mitigation plans for 11 states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative region of the Eastern U.S. For each state we reviewed the (a) policy framework for climate mitigation, (b) GHG reduction goals, (c) inclusion of forest activities in the state’s climate action plan, (d) existing science used to quantify forest carbon estimates, and (e) stated needs for forest carbon monitoring science. Across the region, we found important differences across all categories. While all states have GHG reduction goals and framework documents, nearly three-quarters of all states do not account for forest carbon when planning GHG reductions; those that do account for forest carbon use a variety of scientific methods with various levels of planning detail and guidance. We suggest that a common, efficient, standardized forest carbon monitoring system would provide important benefits to states and the geographic region as a whole. In addition, such a system would allow for more effective transparency and progress tracking to support state, national, and international efforts to increase ambition and implementation of climate goals.
Source: Environmental Research Letters
Authors: Rachel Lamb, George Hurtt, TeeJay Boudreau, Elliott Campbell, Edil A. Sepúlveda Carlo, Hong-Hanh Chu, Jennifer de Mooy, Ralph Dubayah, Dena Gonsalves, Madeleine Guy, Nathan Hultman, Shawn Lehman, Bennet Leon, Andrew Lister, Cary Lynch, Lei Ma, Martin Christopher, Nathan Robbins, Rudee Alexander, Carlos E. Silva, Christopher Skoglund, Hao Tang
Institutions: University of Maryland, College Park, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, US Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, The Nature Conservancy, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, World Resources Institute, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
Language: English
Topic: Forest Management and Policy
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Climate action, Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,255
Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, Earth Sciences Division
Awards: G3548525688, THE OVERALL GOAL OF OUR PROJECT IS THE CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT OF A FRAMEWORK FOR ESTIMATING HIGH-RESOLUTION FOREST CARBON STOCKS AND DYNAMICS AND FUTURE CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL USING REMOTE SENSING AND ECOSYSTEM MODELING LINKED WITH EXISTING FIELD OBSERVATION SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE USFS FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS (FIA) NETWORK. IN PARTICULAR WE SEEK TO DEMONSTRATE AN APPROACH THAT PROVIDES THE BASIS FOR THE RAPID EXPANSION FROM PREVIOUS PROTOTYPES AT THE COUNTY/STATE-SCALE TO COVER A MULTI-STATE REGION ENCOMPASSING THE REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS INITIATIVE (RGGI) DOMAIN AND ULTIMATELY THE COTERMINOUS U.S. ADDITIONALLY WE PREPARE FOR NATIONAL SCALE PROGNOSTIC ECOSYSTEM MODELING USING DATA FROM THE GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS INVESTIGATION (GEDI). OUR INTENT IS TO DRIVE THE MODEL AT 1 KM RESOLUTION OVER THE LOWER 48 STATES USING THE FIRST YEAR OF CANOPY HEIGHT OBSERVATIONS FROM GEDI. SPECIFICALLY WE WILL ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES: (1) BUILD UPON EXTEND AND IMPROVE OUR EXISTING METHODOLOGY FOR CARBON STOCK ESTIMATION AND UNCERTAINTY BASED ON LESSONS LEARNED FROM OUR PHASE 2 STUDIES. (2) PROVIDE WALL-TO-WALL HIGH-RESOLUTION ESTIMATES OF CARBON STOCKS CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL AND THEIR UNCERTAINTIES FOR MULTI-STATE STATE RGGI+. (3) VALIDATE AND ENHANCE NATIONAL BIOMASS MAPS USING FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS (FIA) DATA AND HIGH- RESOLUTION BIOMASS MAPS OVER AN EXPANDED DOMAIN. (4) DEMONSTRATE MRV EFFICACY TO MEET STAKEHOLDER NEEDS AT REGIONAL SCALE AND A VISION FOR FUTURE NATIONAL-SCALE DEPLOYMENT. (5) PROTOTYPE NATIONAL SCALE FOREST CARBON PRODUCTS FOR CONUS USING GEDI DATA. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH DIRECTLY RESPONDS TO THE RESEARCH TOPICS IDENTIFIED FOR THIS PHASE OF CMS. ADDITIONALLY DATA FROM AIRBORNE LIDAR AIRBORNE OPTICAL AND SPACEBORNE PLATFORMS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THIS PROJECT AS IS SOCIETAL RELEVANCE WITH ACTIVE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PLANNED AT STATE REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SCALES.
OpenAlex ID: W3132190823