Small-scale forest landowners gain foothold in U.S. carbon markets

Nairobi is using a unique restoration technique called the Miyawaki method to restore local ecosystems by creating forest islands in urban areas that have lost their green spaces. Since 2007, this reforestation method has established mini forests in three regions throughout the city, as the project has planted over 236,212 seedlings.

Menominee tribal members are practicing methods of forest management that blend both conservation and Indigenous culture to preserve the viability of the forest long-term. In 2018, it was found that after a century of logging on the reservation, the forest had higher tree volume, higher rates of regeneration, more plant diversity and fewer invasive species than other, nontribal forests.

Taos Ski Valley, a ski resort in New Mexico, is now CarbonNeutral certified due to practices like reduction of emissions and on-mountain energy use, and investment in carbon offsets.

The Clean Green initiative empowers Yezidi women who escaped the 2014 ISIS genocide to rebuild their lives and enviornment by planting more than 2,000 trees, specifically chosen to withstand Iraq’s shifting climate. The grassroots group started with just five volunteers, but now has more than 40 members.

In Brazil's Amazon deforestation hotspot BR-163, small farmers and entrepreneurs are working to implement sustainable farming alternatives like agroecology, beekeeping and converting cattle pastures to grow local fruits to create a “bioeconomy,” despite a lack of institutional support.

Landfills in the United States are capturing a potent greenhouse gas, methane, that would otherwise be released into the air and converting it to electricity or natural gas.

An activist organization in Poland, Krakow Smog Alarm, teaches people about poor air quality in their city and helps them organize together to lobby their local governments for effective clean air measures.

Companies in the shipping industry are using green hydrogen as “low-carbon” fuel to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. It’s created by using renewable energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, then mixing the hydrogen with green methanol or ammonia.

The mail and package delivery company Deutsche Post uses electric bikes, trikes, cargo bikes, and delivery vans to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions related to last-mile deliveries.

ElectrifyPDX educates residents of Portland, Oregon, about the importance of decarbonizing their homes and the rebates and tax breaks available to do so. The nonprofit hosts events, webinars, giveaways, and open houses at local electrified homes.