Land makes up a quarter of Earth’s surface, and its soil and plants hold three times as much carbon as the atmosphere. More than 30 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions arise from the land use sector. Thus, no strategy for mitigating global climate change can be complete or successful without reducing emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land uses. Moreover, only land-based or “terrestrial” carbon sequestration offers the possibility today of large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, through plant photosynthesis.

This report includes five major strategies for reducing and sequestering terrestrial greenhouse gas emissions: enriching soil carbon, farming with perennials, developing climate-friendly livestock production, protecting natural habitats and restoring degraded watersheds and rangelands.