As part of our ongoing work with government, NHA is proud to have helped with this new legislation. (Our logo is between Ocean Spray and Land-O-Lakes)
Industrial hemp absorbs more CO2 per acre than any other commercial crop. The CO2 is permanently bonded within the fiber that is used for anything from textiles, to paper, bioplastics and building materials. This legislation that facilitates access to carbon credits will be a tremendous asset to farmers and the hemp industry while helping the nation combat the negative impacts of climate change.
The Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2020
Introduced by Senators Braun, Stabenow, Graham, & Whitehouse
Agricultural practices and land management decisions play a key role in the discussion surrounding global greenhouse emissions and climate policy. The agriculture and forestry sectors hold the potential to serve as a critical climate solution. At scale, agriculture and land use practices can sequester carbon at as low as $10 per MtCO2e, making it the most cost effective carbon sequestration method currently available.
Carbon credits are traded in both compliance and voluntary markets globally. Traditionally, compliance markets have seen more transaction volume of the two. But more recently, as companies and individual actors increasingly seek to offset emissions, activity in voluntary carbon markets has increased exponentially. Correspondingly, the volume of credits generated through forestry and land use activities is growing rapidly, increasing 264% between 2016 and 2018, more than 12 times the increase of other credit types.2
However, for producers and private forest owners, access to carbon markets is often too difficult and convoluted to achieve wide adoption. Further, the significant demand for land-based climate solutions cannot presently be fully incentivized by government as political and fiscal constraints in Washington limit the federal government’s ability to be the sole leader in promoting conservation and sustainable land-use practices. Thus, there is an inherent need for legislation that outlines the appropriate federal role – one that will complement existing efforts, make it easier for producers to participate, and allow the private sector to flourish in meeting market-based demands for carbon credits.