On April 22, 2024, a working group of California state agencies released California’s Nature-Based Solutions Climate Targets (hereafter referred to as NBS Climate Targets) in response to Assembly Bill (AB) 1757 of 2022, which required the development of targets for natural carbon sequestration and nature-based climate solutions for 2030, 2038, and 2045.
Nature-based solutions remove carbon from the atmosphere and increase climate resilience, and thus are critical tools for addressing climate change. In addition, nature-based solutions support a variety of policy priorities including enhancing water quality and food security, improving public health, advancing equity, expanding economic opportunities, and protecting biodiversity.
NBS Climate Targets contain specific targets and actions for land treatments on California’s diverse natural lands, encompassing croplands, developed lands, forests, grasslands, shrublands, sparsely vegetated lands, wetlands, and wildfire-prone areas. These treatments are designed to achieve California’s ambitious Scoping Plan carbon stock target (i.e., no more than 4 percent additional carbon stock losses below 2014 levels by 2045). In addition, the NBS Climate Targets include conservation targets, encompassing active land stewardship and management for healthy, resilient lands. At a high level, the actions identified include improving quantification and data on sequestered carbon, providing technical assistance, obtaining grant funding, creating partnerships, and implementing land treatment actions.
Ascent is actively working to assist our clients in advancing nature-based solutions. Our Climate team recently released the public draft Monterey Bay Natural and Working Lands Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Study. Our Conservation and Recreation team is working to increase carbon sequestration through ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management in projects like the Johnson Meadow Restoration Project in South Lake Tahoe and the Great Valley Grassland State Park General Plan. Reach out to any of our authors if you’d like to learn more about Ascent’s services for nature-based solutions.
