Nature-Based Solutions

The ocean is often referred to as the heart of the planet — from generating over half the air we breathe to absorbing excess carbon in the atmosphere, serving as home to millions of species, and providing important resources to coastal and inland communities. But, when precious ocean resources and the surrounding environment are not sustainably managed or decisions are made without intentional input from coastal communities, frontline communities, and Indigenous Communities, negative impacts like ocean acidification, decreased marine biodiversity, coastal erosion, environmental injustices, and sea-level rise can emerge. This briefing book is intended to provide an overview of some of these major ocean topics that state legislators across the country are contending with, using existing policies to illustrate how introducing legislation to remedy one ocean issue can have significant co-benefits across coastal ecosystems.

Forest ecosystems are an important mitigator of climate change, absorbing approximately 10% of U.S. annual emissions. But globally, deforestation is responsible for 10% of annual emissions. By protecting existing forests and promoting afforestation — planting more trees — there is great potential to further mitigate climate change, all while preserving habitat, reducing water and air pollution, maintaining access to nontimber forest resources, and supporting overall well-being. Limiting deforestation and promoting afforestation is one of the most cost-effective responses to climate change.

Blue carbon is the carbon naturally captured by the ocean and coastal ecosystems, such as seagrass beds, mangroves, salt marshes, and kelp forests. Blue carbon ecosystems can sequester and store more carbon per unit area than terrestrial forests and are critically important to climate change mitigation. We are losing blue carbon ecosystems to climate change and environmental degradation caused by human activities. As we lose these ecosystems, stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere, effectively creating an additional source of greenhouse gas emissions. In order to ensure that coastal ecosystems can continue to capture and store carbon, immediate conservation and restoration efforts are needed. At the state level, legislators can enact policies to advance conservation and restoration efforts.

Agriculture has the potential to both mitigate and contribute to climate change. Agriculture contributes 10% of U.S. emissions, particularly from nitrous oxide. At the same time, good land use practices currently absorb 12% of our emissions. By improving agricultural practices, we can reduce existing emissions and enhance our soil’s ability to sequester carbon. Healthy soils practices can reduce emissions from poor soil management. States are increasingly finding ways to support farmers as they improve soil health.

Climate adaptation and resiliency measures are integral in ensuring communities can adjust to the current and projected impacts of climate change. About 87% of Americans report experiencing some kind of extreme weather events including heat waves, floods, droughts, hurricanes, or wildfires. The impacts of these events are tied to high home insurance costs, expensive recoveries, and even displacement. Climate adaptability measures include improving and retrofitting existing infrastructure, creating more green infrastructure, and improving extreme weather strategies.

Nature-based solutions (NbS), sometimes called engineering with nature, build resilience by learning from and designing with natural landscapes and ecosystems. Nature-based solutions often cost less than traditional infrastructure and offer improved disaster resilience, green jobs, increased property values, economic growth, greenspace equity, and improved public health. Environmentally-committed outdoor policy promotes and builds on nature-based solutions.