Washington, D.C. (December 10, 2018) — As the COP24 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland enters its second week, American Forests is proud to announce it has accepted the invitation to join the U.S. Climate Alliance’s Impact Partnership, an innovative model to engage private sector partners in helping states to craft the most powerful strategies for climate action and climate resilience. Building on past collaboration, American Forests will support the Alliance’s Natural and Working Lands Initiative that is focused on mobilizing forests, farms, and other lands to capture and store carbon.

“The new U.S. Climate Alliance Impact Partnership creates a powerful, collaborative platform that will help states access the best insights and innovations that the private sector can offer,” said Jad Daley, President and CEO of American Forests. “American Forests and our 46 partner organizations in the Forest-Climate Working Group have developed new science-tested approaches and tools to drive forests as a climate change solution, and we are ready to help the courageous states of the U.S. Climate Alliance to lead in this arena.”

U.S. forests and forest products already provide net carbon sequestration equivalent to almost 15 percent of U.S. carbon emissions. New research led by The Nature Conservancy suggests that increased investment in natural climate solutions like forests could make up 37 percent of the additional reductions needed to achieve the climate targets set in the Paris Climate Accord. This immense potential is complicated by the rising stress on forests as a result of climate change, including increased wildfire, which must also be addressed.

“The science is clear. Forests and other natural lands are the swing vote on whether we can overcome climate change,” said Daley. “With the right policies and investment in the health and resilience of natural and working lands, the Climate Alliance states could dramatically increase the power of the land to absorb and store carbon. This will show the way for other states and eventual federal action.”

American Forests’ role in the Impact Partnership will build on past successes in working with the Alliance. In July of 2018, American Forests hosted an unprecedented Natural and Working Lands Learning Lab in Washington, D.C. that drew delegations of state officials and partners from 16 Alliance states. The Lab was staffed with more than 50 leading experts in the field of land-based carbon mitigation from federal and local government, academia, nonprofits, landowners and industry, and has already led to development of new policy proposals and establishment of financing mechanisms. As part of the new Impact Partnership, American Forests expects to host additional Learning Labs on land sector climate action working with fellow impact partners The Nature Conservancy, World Resources Institute, The Trust for Public Land, American Farmland Trust and The Coalition for Agricultural Greenhouse Gases.

American Forests is well positioned to lead this effort. American Forests is the nation’s first forest conservation organization, founded in 1875, and leads the 46-member Forest-Climate Working Group, the nation’s only sector-wide coalition working on forest-based carbon mitigation. Jad Daley of American Forests was the co-founder of the Forest-Climate Working Group in 2007, and has served as co-chair since that time. American Forests has 25 years of experience advancing carbon sequestration through reforestation projects conducted in partnership with federal and state agencies and other partners, having planted more than 60 million trees in all 50 states.

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ABOUT AMERICAN FORESTS

American Forests inspires and advances the conservation of forests, which are essential to life. We do this by protecting and restoring threatened forest ecosystems, promoting and expanding urban forests, and increasing understanding of the importance of forests. Founded in 1875, American Forests is the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the country and has served as a catalyst for many key milestones in the conservation movement, including the founding of the U.S. Forest Service, the national forest system and thousands of forest ecosystem restoration projects and public education efforts. Since 1990, American Forests has planted more than 60 million trees in all 50 states and nearly 50 countries, resulting in cleaner air and drinking water, restored habitat for wildlife and fish, and the removal of millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

MEDIA CONTACT

Lea Sloan | Vice President of Communications | 202.370.4509 (direct) | 202.330.3253 (mobile) | lsloan@americanforests.org