California is planning to renew its commitment to fighting climate change with an extension of its Cap-and-Trade program, now renamed the Cap and Invest program, under the state’s landmark climate policy. Auctions under the program have provided $33 billion to fund climate friendly technologies, especially in energy and transportation. Investments in the land sector have been relatively minor, and primarily through the carbon offsets program, an “alternative mechanism” for implementation. The state’s offset program is the most robust in the world—but it’s not the only option for leveraging the power of Nature to solve our climate crisis. It is time for additional such mechanisms, and the state already has a blueprint.

California’s Nature-Based Climate Solutions (NBS) Targets, announced in April 2024, shows how forests and other lands can play a much larger role in meeting the state’s goals more quickly and costeffectively than any other practical, near-term action at scale. Restoring and maintaining resilient, carbon-rich ecosystems reduces net emissions, lowers risks (i.e., from fires, floods, and sea level rise), helps biodiversity and provides many jobs. By combining short-term actions like restoration with long-term conservation, we reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resilience and adaptation.

Shifting management—and maintaining it—on a small fraction of California’s private forests, under permanent conservation easements, could absorb an additional 150–300 million metric tons of CO₂ over the next decade. That’s more than the gains achieved from transportation and energy. Restoring and conserving wetlands and riparian forests also reduces carbon and improves water stores while lowering flood risks. Greening urban spaces also has benefits.

Integrating short- and long-term actions is a core recommendation of the AB 1757 Expert Advisory Committee, yielding carbon reductions that are additional, permanent, quantifiable, and verifiable. PFT is advocating that the state expands its portfolio of effective, immediate climate solutions under its Cap and Invest approach, enhancing affordability and impact.