Oregon elevates natural and working lands to help slow climate change – Oregon Capital Chronicle

Innovative Approach in Oregon to Combat Climate Change

In a forward-looking move, leaders in Oregon have committed funding to utilize farms, forests, and wetlands in the effort to blunt the effects of climate change.

Climate Resilience Package Signed into Law

On July 27, Gov. Tina Kotek signed the Climate Resilience Package, House Bill 3409, into law, helping to ensure that the state’s natural and working lands can continue to remove or sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The package establishes a permanent fund for “natural climate solutions”: efforts to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or prevent its release once it has been sequestered—for example, in a forest, farm, or wetland. The law directs funding to facilitate the conservation, restoration, and improved management of such lands and waters.

Coastal Habitats and their Importance

Though small in size, coastal habitats such as forested tidal swamps and wetlands can store carbon at greater rates than the region’s old-growth forests. And because they sit where Oregon’s forests and rivers meet the sea, healthy estuarine wetlands sustain salmon, birds, Dungeness crabs, oysters, forage fish, cultural resources, and jobs while serving as a buffer to lessen the impacts of storms and floods on coastal communities. That is a particularly valuable service given experts’ predictions that extreme weather—along Oregon’s coast and elsewhere—will become increasingly common.

Pew’s Contribution to HB 3409

As part of the effort to inform HB 3409, The Pew Charitable Trusts conducted technical work and provided policy expertise to the Oregon Global Warming Commission and the Oregon state Legislature. This included coordinating a team of experts to develop the first “blue carbon” inventory of Oregon’s coastal wetlands and establish estimates of the climate benefits provided by increased protection and restoration of these vital areas. Blue carbon refers to the natural sequestration and storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide in coastal and marine areas.

Key Provisions of the New Law

• Creates a process to engage tribes, which could help to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into natural and working lands management. These additions are especially important given that Tribal Nations are the original stewards of the state’s natural resources and are leaders in habitat restoration. They also hold knowledge that is critical for enhancing carbon sequestration and storage and have suffered the effects of poor coordination by the state’s past climate-related efforts.
• Establishes the concept of natural climate solutions in state policy.
• Defines “natural and working lands” and recognizes private lands – including approximately 10 million acres of privately managed forests as well as coastal and nearshore blue carbon habitats – as important tools for limiting climate change.
• Establishes a permanent natural and working lands fund, with an initial appropriation of $10 million, to support improved conservation and management practices.
• Requires the state to develop a natural and working lands carbon inventory across multiple landscapes.
• Renames the Oregon Global Warming Commission as the Oregon Climate Action Commission and expands its membership, scope, and charge to include natural and working lands.
• Initiates a study of the workforce and training programs needed to support adoption of natural climate solutions on natural and working lands.
• Formalizes an advisory committee to advance natural and working lands initiatives.
• Requires the state to develop goals for using natural and working lands to slow climate change by 2025.

Pew commends Oregon for recognizing the power of nature to help combat climate change.  Robust implementation of this new policy will bring benefits to people, wildlife, and habitats and can serve as a model for other states.

This commentary was originally published by The Pew Charitable Trusts and is posted here with permission. 

Subscribe for Morning Headlines

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 15: Life on Land

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.
• SDG 15.2: Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for SDG 13.2: Existence of national policies, strategies, and planning documents that integrate climate change measures.
• Indicator for SDG 15.2: Forest area as a proportion of total land area.

4. Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Based on the article, the issues highlighted are connected to SDG 13: Climate Action and SDG 15: Life on Land. The article discusses the Climate Resilience Package signed into law in Oregon, which aims to utilize farms, forests, and wetlands to mitigate the effects of climate change. This aligns with SDG 13, which focuses on taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Additionally, the package recognizes the importance of natural and working lands, including forests and wetlands, in limiting climate change, which relates to SDG 15 that aims to protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.

Specific targets under these SDGs that can be identified based on the article’s content include SDG 13.2, which calls for integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning. The Climate Resilience Package in Oregon establishes a permanent fund for natural climate solutions and directs funding towards the conservation, restoration, and improved management of lands and waters. This demonstrates the integration of climate change measures into state policies and strategies.

Another target is SDG 15.2, which promotes the implementation of sustainable forest management and restoration. The article mentions the recognition of private lands, including privately managed forests, as important tools for limiting climate change. This aligns with the target of promoting sustainable management of all types of forests and restoring degraded forests.

The article implies two indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets. For SDG 13.2, the indicator is the existence of national policies, strategies, and planning documents that integrate climate change measures. The Climate Resilience Package in Oregon can serve as an indicator of progress in this regard. For SDG 15.2, the indicator is the forest area as a proportion of total land area. Monitoring changes in forest area can indicate progress in promoting sustainable forest management and restoration.

Behold! This splendid article springs forth from the wellspring of knowledge, shaped by a wondrous proprietary AI technology that delved into a vast ocean of data, illuminating the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Remember that all rights are reserved by SDG Investors LLC, empowering us to champion progress together.

Source: oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Join us, as fellow seekers of change, on a transformative journey at https://sdgtalks.ai/welcome, where you can become a member and actively contribute to shaping a brighter future.