Community Climate Change Mitigation

Climate change mitigation involves efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Mitigation activities may include increasing the use of renewable energy technology, making older equipment more energy efficient, or changing management practices or consumer behavior. From implementing management strategies to sequester carbon, avoid deforestation and promote reforestation, to encouraging appropriate renewable energy siting or socially responsible investment and divestment from fossil fuels, there are many ways the conservation community can encourage climate change mitigation among land owners and local communities.

Mitigation may prompt a range of policy discussions and actions. In a recent survey of land trusts, 60% of respondents said they were building awareness or incorporating climate change into their conservation efforts. By considering the impacts of climate change in their normal land conservation activities, land trusts can provide strategic investments and effective land management to help reduce the vulnerability of natural areas, working lands, and the human communities that depend on them. Mitigation case studies highlight how some land trusts are encouraging mitigation through land use interventions as well as leading by example to adopt green energy technologies and support sustainable growth policies.