In the United States, forests and trees offset 13% of emissions; with improved conservation, restoration and land management, that number could jump to 21%. In April 2021, the United States released an updated Nationally Determined Contribution that emphasized the role forests and urban trees play in meeting that goal by 2030. Local governments have unique policy tools available to implement tree-based climate strategies, yet over 90 percent of local climate action plans fail to address trees and forests. Reasons for this shortcoming include lack of access to monitoring data, uncertainty around how to incorporate trees and forests in greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, and political and technical challenges associated with being an “early mover” in this space.
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