To increase investment in nature-based solutions, new Stanford report recommends increased attention on measuring and verifying carbon and other benefits

July 24, 2023—Stanford, CA—Nature-based solutions can play a significant role in combating climate change by removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; yet, investments in reforestation and other nature-based projects are lagging due, in large part, to inadequate quantification and confirmation of carbon removals and other ecosystem benefits that typically flow from nature-based investments—including increased resilience to climate impacts, according to a new report from Stanford Law School’s Law and Policy Lab, the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, and the Bezos Earth Fund, published today. Stanford Law’s Policy Labs provide students with hands-on experience influencing and advising individuals, government agencies, and non-profit organizations about cutting-edge issues in real time.

Professor of the Practice at Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability and Stanford Law School and report faculty lead David J. Hayes commented “Policymakers and investors are looking for proof that nature-based solutions can deliver measurable and verifiable carbon emissions reductions and removals—and they are not getting it—even though data generated from upgraded measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification tools, when integrated into open-source greenhouse gas information systems, can deliver needed proof points.”

The “Investing in Nature to Fight Climate Change and Help Communities Thrive” report lays out a game plan for fixing current measurement and monitoring deficiencies for nature-based solutions, building on the White House’s release of its National Strategy to Advance an Integrated U.S. Greenhouse Gas Measurement, Monitoring & Information System. For nature-based solutions that claim carbon reductions or removals, the Stanford report calls for a public/private collaborative that will:

• Identify scientifically-sound and consensus-based data greenhouse gas data collection and modeling protocols for specific nature-based solutions.
• Establish an open-source data sharing system that provides broad public access to credible and verifiable greenhouse gas data and analytics at the project level.
• Form a high-level panel of key policymakers, economists, and ecologists that will build on existing sources and systems to advance the quantification and monetization of ecosystem services that flow from nature-based projects.

“Simply put, stronger confirmatory data, when broadly shared and continuously improved, will unlock the power of nature to combat climate change while also delivering other highly valuable ecosystem services,” said Hayes, who served in the White House as President Biden’s Special Assistant for Climate Policy and as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Obama and Clinton administrations.

Kelley Kizzier, Director of Corporate Action and Markets at the Bezos Earth Fund, applauded the report’s focus on improving the collection, sharing, and verification of performance data from nature-based solutions, noting that “we need to generate more open-source data and information to increase the public’s confidence and spur investment in nature-based solutions as a key climate-fighting tool.”

About the SLS Law and Policy Lab

Under the guidance of seasoned faculty advisers, Law and Policy Lab students counsel real-world clients in such areas as education, copyright and patent reform, governance and transparency in emerging economies, policing technologies, and energy and the environment.

Policy labs address problems for real clients, using analytic approaches that supplement traditional legal analysis. Typically, policy labs assist clients through empirical evidence that scopes a policy problem and assesses options and courses of action. The resulting deliverables reflect the needs of the client grounded in the law school’s belief that systematic examination of societal problems, informed by rigorous data analysis, can generate solutions to society’s most challenging public problems. Graduate students from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability joined the law and policy students in interdisciplinary research teams.

Read the Report

About Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is one of the nation’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business, and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, produce outstanding legal scholarship and empirical analysis, and contribute regularly to the nation’s press as legal and policy experts. Stanford Law School has established a model for legal education that provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, hands-on experience, global perspective, and focus on public service, spearheading a movement for change.

About Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability opened in 2022 to foster deep understanding of Earth, climate, and society and to create solutions at a global scale in collaboration with partners worldwide. Students engage in an array of scholarship fields that are together needed to understand and address environmental sustainability.

About the Bezos Earth Fund

The Bezos Earth Fund is helping transform the fight against climate change with the largest ever philanthropic commitment to climate and nature protection. Jeff Bezos has committed $10 billion in this decisive decade to protect nature and address climate change. By providing funding and expertise, the Bezos Earth Fund partners with organizations to accelerate innovation, break down barriers to success and create a more equitable and sustainable world. Join us in our mission to create a world where people prosper in harmony with nature.