Unlocking funding for climate action for U.S. land systems

The ways we utilize land systems as a resource for agriculture, forestry, and other land uses both emit and sequester greenhouse gases.  

Agriculture is responsible for 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, mostly nitrous oxide from fertilizer application and methane from livestock, and forest fires and clearing forests and grasslands for crop production and development are responsible for another 4%.

Critically, land systems also remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, counterbalancing 14% of gross U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and can achieve permanent carbon dioxide removal by coupling biomass resources with emerging technologies.  

Reducing land sector emissions, protecting and enhancing land carbon sinks, leveraging land resources for climate-beneficial energy and carbon dioxide removal, and providing the space to build energy infrastructure are all critical for climate change mitigation.  

The resources below share information about available federal funding to reduce greenhouse emissions, enhance land carbon sinks, and achieve permanent carbon dioxide removal. Some of these opportunities are primarily focused on non-climate outcomes, like water quality or biodiversity, that underpin our land resources and their ecosystems so that they can provide climate benefits.