Rural Investment: Building a Natural Climate Solutions Policy Agenda that Works for Rural America and the Climate

America’s farms, ranches, and forests are vital to solving climate change. Forests absorb the equivalent of 11–15 percent of U.S. greenhouse gases (GHGs), while agriculture accounts for about 9 percent of U.S. GHG emissions. Yet, federal climate change policy faces considerable skepticism in rural America, particularly among agricultural and forestry stakeholders.

A new report—published by Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and funded by the ClimateWorks Foundation—outlines a menu of policy ideas capable of both garnering the necessary support from rural America and helping the United States reach its climate goals through natural climate solutions.

The Nicholas Institute is hosting a webinar via Zoom video conferencing to discuss the report and answer questions from participants. Featured speakers will be two of the report's co-authors:

• Robert Bonnie, Executive in Residence, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
• Tatjana Vujic, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Duke Nicholas School of the Environment and Director of Biogas Strategy, Duke University

Registration is required to join each session. A link and instructions for logging into the webinar will be emailed to participants the day before.

For more information, read:

• The full report, "Rural Investment: Building a Natural Climate Solutions Policy Agenda that Works for Rural America and the Climate"
• A one-page summary of the report [PDF]
• A news release, "Policies that Invest in Rural America Will Allow Natural Climate Solutions to Take Hold, Nicholas Institute Report Shows"