WASHINGTON, D.C. — The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change underscores the need for ambitious and swift solutions to reduce atmospheric carbon and reverse the climate crisis. The National Wildlife Federation urged policymakers to ensure that the solutions they advance are compatible with efforts to reverse the declines in biodiversity and secure our natural resources for future generations.
 
“This latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change underscores that we need a comprehensive plan to address the key drivers of the climate crisis while we also mitigate the direct impacts of the changing climate and the unnatural fires, floods, hurricanes, heatwaves, and storms it fuels,” said Shannon Heyck-Williams, senior director of climate and energy policy  for the National Wildlife Federation. “We are nearly at the point of no return to arrest greenhouse emissions. We can and must reverse the climate crisis while protecting our wildlife and restoring irreplaceable natural treasures in the process, and while responding to the needs of vulnerable communities and workers.”

“Even if current sources of carbon dioxide are greatly reduced by a robust deployment of renewables, electric vehicles, and other fossil fuel replacements, it is still imperative that we slash historic carbon emissions already present in the atmosphere,” said Dr. Simone H. Stewart, industrial policy specialist for the National Wildlife Federation. “We can do this through carbon removal, both natural and technological, with the captured emissions permanently stored underground or reused to make new products. The removal strategies come with both social and wildlife implications and potential co-benefits, and should be considered carefully.”

The National Wildlife Federation highlighted the potential for responsible carbon capture and utilization in a recent white paper, which lays out the basics and potential implications of carbon management technologies and how they fit into a cleaner, more just future.