The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Global Warming of 1.5°C Special Report emphasized the urgency of climate action and the important role the land sector can and must play as part of a comprehensive climate change mitigation strategy. In Executive Order 20-04, Governor Brown directed the Oregon Global Warming Commission to work in coordination with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Forestry, and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to develop and submit a proposal for setting a carbon sequestration and storage goal for Oregon’s natural and working lands.
Oregon’s natural and working lands — including forests, grasslands, rangelands, farmlands, tidal and subtidal wetlands, and the parks and open spaces in urban environments — provide a range of environmental, social, health, and economic benefits statewide including opportunities to increase carbon sequestration to reduce Oregon’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.