Report: Acting on climate means conserving land

Decades ago, the writer Aldo Leopold’s essay “The Land Ethic” argued that if we take care of the land, the land will take care of us. As it turns out, the health of the land is also necessary for a healthy climate.

A report released on Aug. 8 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that agriculture, forestry and other types of land-use account for 23 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions. Restoring forests and other land can absorb carbon dioxide emissions and slow climate change.

Steve Blackledge, senior director of our national network’s Conservation program, says there’s plenty we can do right now to help.

“We’re calling on major agricultural companies to implement strong no-deforestation policies,” Steve said. And, “Congress has the opportunity to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, our best tool for acquiring and protecting the forests and lands needed to store carbon and gird against climate change.”

Check out our network’s press release. 

Photo: Deforestation is a contributing factor to the climate crisis. Conserving our land will be critical to solving global warming. Credit: World Bank Photo Collection via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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