The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook: Land Use

The document outlines four key actions for state, provincial, and regional governments to address land use's role in climate change: sustainable land management, open space conservation, agricultural methane capture, and regenerative agriculture. It emphasizes that land use is best managed at the subnational level to capture rural impacts and cross-jurisdictional effects, noting that while agriculture, forestry, and other land use account for 24% of global emissions, the sector can offset this by 20% through carbon removal.

• Agriculture, forestry, and other land use contribute approximately 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but the sector possesses the potential to offset this impact by 20% by removing carbon from the atmosphere.
• Land use strategies are most effective when implemented at the state, provincial, and regional government levels because cities often overlook rural impacts and land use issues frequently span multiple subnational jurisdictions.
• The guide recommends four primary actions for land use decarbonization: promoting the conservation and expansion of high-carbon landscapes (such as peatlands and mangroves) and combating deforestation; preserving open spaces and forests through local ordinances and land acquisition; using financial incentives and biogas infrastructure to capture methane from livestock waste; and providing training and incentives for farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture.

APA

RMI (2018). The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook: Land Use. https://rmi.org/resources/carbon-free-regions-handbook-land-use/

Chicago

RMI. The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook: Land Use. 2018. https://rmi.org/resources/carbon-free-regions-handbook-land-use/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook: Land Use |date=27 August 2018 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/carbon-free-regions-handbook-land-use/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2018carbonfree, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook: Land Use}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2018}, month = aug, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/carbon-free-regions-handbook-land-use/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }