Number: 2005-04
Climate Change and Carbon Sequestration WHEREAS, the overwhelming majority of the world’s climate scientists have concluded that global warming is occurring and that human activities are contributing significantly to it; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded in 2001 that “Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise. Temperatures are, in fact, rising”; and
WHEREAS, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a scientific study conducted by more than 300 scientists, concluded that, “climate changes are being experienced particularly intensely in the Arctic. Arctic average temperature has risen at almost twice the rate as the rest of the world in the past few decades. Widespread melting of glaciers and sea ice and rising permafrost temperatures present additional evidence of strong arctic warming. These changes in the Arctic provide an early indication of the environmental and societal significance of global warming”; and
WHEREAS, The Wildlife Society concluded in 2004 that the rapid warming of the planet has significant consequences for wildlife and their habitats; The Wildlife Society recommended that wildlife managers look for new opportunities to meet the challenges of climate change and pointed out that, “as a means of mitigating global climate change, some industries are investing in carbon sequestration programs by planting trees; in some regions, grassland and wetland conservation may benefit similarly, but more research is needed on carbon cycling…”; and
WHEREAS, given the important role forests, grasslands, and other terrestrial ecosystems play in the global carbon cycle, restoring or protecting natural habitat can play an important role in helping to slow the pace of global warming; reforestation, for example, can remove carbon from the atmosphere as the forest develops; furthermore, protecting existing, old-growth forests can prevent the release of stored carbon that would occur through timber harvests; and
WHEREAS, farm management also plays a role in the global carbon cycle, and management decisions such as using no-till cultivation and planting forested buffers along riparian areas between farmland and waterways can reduce the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; and
WHEREAS, land use decisions that improve the storage of carbon in biomass and soils — called “sequestration” — can also help protect and restore important wildlife habitat when programs are appropriately designed to capture these benefits; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture is tasked “to provide recommendations on further, targeted incentives for forest and agricultural sequestration of greenhouse gases” and “to develop accounting rules and guidelines for crediting sequestration projects,” and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in 2003 stated that “conservation organizations must be prepared to become engaged in this process to ensure that sound conservation policies are considered and incorporated into carbon sequestration program development”; and
WHEREAS, it is important to accurately measure the amount of carbon sequestered by different land management practices, particularly if policies are developed such as emissions trading that allow such projects to substitute for direct reduction of emissions from fossil fuel sources;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its annual meeting assembled April 1-2, 2005, in Washington D.C., encourages policies, incentives, and other efforts to promote land use management that simultaneously enhance the protection and restoration of wildlife habitat and reduce the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges all parties involved in development of climate change policy to ensure sound accounting of the amount of carbon sequestered by different land management practices to avoid incorrectly estimating the benefits of land use decisions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation opposes designing global warming policies and incentives that rely on inaccurate or unproven carbon accounting and/or otherwise sacrifice wildlife habitat; efforts should be made to ensure that carbon sequestration projects protect, restore, and optimize habitat quality for native fish and wildlife; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation encourages first and foremost the adoption of mandatory policies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel sources, and that carbon sequestration policies and incentives alone are not sufficient to confront global warming.