California to set CO2 sequestration goals in 2023

California governor Gavin Newsom (D) has signed into law legislation that aims to boost efforts to store carbon in the state's lands.

Newsom on 23 September signed into law SB 27, which requires the state Natural Resources Agency to establish carbon sequestration goals for natural and working lands by July 2023. The bill glided through the state senate on 9 September, passing with a 34-4 vote after the state Assembly had voted 75-0 in favor of the measure.

Bill sponsor senator Nancy Skinner (D) said the bill "will maximize our capacity to use nature's own carbon-reduction tools through capture in soil, grasslands, farmland, wetlands, forests and other natural systems, as well as explore cutting-edge technology like direct air capture that mimic this natural process."

The new law also requires the Natural Resources Agency to create a registry of projects for public and private investment and track the carbon benefits of each project. Projects in the registry would not be able to generate compliance offsets under the state's cap-and-trade program.

In addition, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), as part of its next climate change scoping plan, must establish a specific CO2 removal target for 2030 and beyond. Newsom last year signed an executive order calling for new efforts to use the state's natural and working lands to store carbon, including setting a goal of conserving 30pc of the state's land by 2030.

In coordination with other agencies, CARB must also establish the Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy to serve as a framework that will advance the state's climate goals.

The agency in 2019 released a strategy draft that included objectives to significantly increase and improve the conservation, restoration and management of natural and working lands. The draft included the objective of maintaining those lands as resilient carbon sinks and setting a preliminary goal to reduce GHG emissions on those lands by at least 15mn-20mn metric tonnes (t) of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 2030.

The strategy also estimated that different conservation, restoration and management activities on the state's natural and working lands could reduce emissions by 31mn-147mn t CO2e by the end of this decade.

The carbon sequestration bill was part of a larger $15bn climate and wildfire package that Newsom signed, which also included roughly $4bn to accelerate the state's transition to zero-emissions vehicles and legislation to set offshore wind goals for California.

By Julia Martinez