Ecosystem Carbon Management: A Paradigm Shift

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) proposes 'ecosystem carbon management' to encompass both conventional biological carbon storage and novel technological approaches. Conventional methods, such as sustainable forestry and agricultural practices, provide immediate mitigation potential but face risks of reversal. Novel approaches, including enhanced rock weathering, ocean alkalinity enhancement, and biochar, aim for permanent storage over centuries or millennia. The document argues for a balanced deployment of these tools and the development of policy structures to provide financial incentives and safeguards for these emerging technologies.

• Ecosystem carbon management is defined as the 'intentional management of ecosystems to enhance and maintain carbon storage,' a concept that broadens the scope of 'nature-based climate solutions' to include emerging strategies that leverage ecosystem processes for carbon management.
• Conventional ecosystem carbon management focuses on organic carbon storage in trees and soils and currently contributes roughly two gigatons of carbon removal annually. These activities include sustainable forest management, reforestation, afforestation, and agricultural practices like cover cropping, though they carry a 'significant risk of reversal' from events such as fire or deforestation.
• Novel ecosystem carbon management approaches utilize technology to achieve carbon storage for centuries to millennia. These include biochar production, the burial or sinking of plant-derived biomass, and geochemical methods such as enhanced rock weathering—which applies crushed minerals to ecosystems to accelerate carbon fixation—and ocean alkalinity enhancement to increase atmospheric carbon dioxide drawdown.

APA

Sanders-DeMott, R., & Fallon, K. (2024). Ecosystem Carbon Management: A Paradigm Shift. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/resource/ecosystem-carbon-management/

Chicago

Sanders-DeMott, Rebecca, and Kathy Fallon. Ecosystem Carbon Management: A Paradigm Shift. Clean Air Task Force, 2024. https://www.catf.us/resource/ecosystem-carbon-management/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sanders-DeMott |first1=Rebecca |last2=Fallon |first2=Kathy |title=Ecosystem Carbon Management: A Paradigm Shift |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=4 June 2024 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/ecosystem-carbon-management/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sandersdemott2024ecosystem, author = {Sanders-DeMott, Rebecca and Fallon, Kathy}, title = {{Ecosystem Carbon Management: A Paradigm Shift}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/ecosystem-carbon-management/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }