Dr. Sue Natali appointed to DOI adaptation science council / 02 Hope and compromise at COP28 / 03 Ten climate action highlights from 2023 / 05 In the news: highlights / 07
Notes from the Field Month in Review ● December 2023 woodwellclimate.org
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Dr. Natali named to esteemed council to advise U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on national adaptation science strategy Jessica Howard
Arctic Communications Specialist
Woodwell Climate’s Arctic Program Senior Scientist and Permafrost Pathways Lead Dr. Sue Natali was appointed by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland as a member of the new federal Advisory Council for Climate Adaptation Science. The Council was established by the U.S. Department of the Interior to advise Secretary Haaland on the operations of the Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) and to provide recommendations on national strategy, including: 1
Identifying key climate adaptation science priorities to advance the management of natural and cultural resources;
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How to build capacity and effectively deliver scientific information and tools to support the natural and cultural resource management community and decision-makers in adapting to climate change; and
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The integration of equity within the operations of the national and regional CASCs.
Dr. Natali is an Arctic scientist whose research examines the effects of climate change, including permafrost thaw and increasing wildfires, on northern ecosystems and the impact these changes have on Arctic communities and the global climate. She has worked extensively in remote regions of Alaska and Siberia, conducting research with Indigenous community partners and training the next generation of Arctic scientists. As a scientist who is committed to seeing both the human and climate impacts of rapid Arctic change incorporated into public
understanding and global policy, Dr. Natali has briefed federal lawmakers, testified before Congress, and presented her work at events associated with international climate negotiations. She frequently speaks with the media, has been quoted by the New York Times, Washington Post, The New Yorker, and BBC News, and has presented her work on the TED stage. “Rapid Arctic warming is creating hazardous conditions in the north, and Arctic Indigenous Peoples—who have been the traditional stewards of the land and water since time immemorial—have been living with and adapting to these impacts for decades,” Dr. Natali said. “Permafrost Pathways aims to ensure policymakers understand the consequences of thawing permafrost and other climate hazards, and to support adaptation decision-making. I’m thrilled to see the establishment of this council and I feel honored to join such an impressive group of people advancing climate adaptation science.” MORE
Read about the ongoing work of the new advisory council on the USGS Advisory Council for Climate Adaptation Science website: usgs.gov/programs/climateadaptation-science-centers/advisorycouncil-climate-adaptation-science To stay connected to Permafrost Pathways and Dr. Natali’s work: permafrost.woodwellclimate.org
Dr. Sue Natali presents at Arctic Circle Assembly 2023. / photo courtesy of Arctic Circle/Flickr
December 2023
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Hope and compromise at COP28 Woodwell scientists recap key highlights of this year’s COP Sarah Ruiz
Science Writer/Editor
COP28, the annual meeting of United Nations delegates to set goals and report progress on addressing climate change, closed last week in Dubai after a two-week rollercoaster that was both promising and discouraging. When weak draft language surfaced, just a few days before negotiations were set to close, shying away from any clear call to eliminate fossil fuels, the outlook was not optimistic. But nearly overnight, representatives managed to arrive at a deal. For the first time in 28 years of negotiations, the final agreement included a direct reference to the need to “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.” The language is not as strong as many hoped, but it still represents a historic step forward, and came as a positive surprise after controversy surrounding the oil interests of the host country. “We’ve known from COP number one that fossil fuels are a major cause of the problem with respect to climate change, but the reality is that it wasn’t until COP28 that the words ‘fossil fuels’ were actually recognized in the agreement,” says Woodwell Climate
CEO and President, Dr. Max Holmes. “It’s really late in the game, but I think it’s important that this was finally recognized. Yet words are not actions, and much more needs to be done.” International agreements were also made to reduce methane emissions generated by fossil fuel extraction and triple renewable energy by 2030, as well as enact the agreed-upon Loss and Damage fund created last year, which will use contributions from wealthier countries to support those suffering the worst climate-related impacts. Progress also occurred on many smaller stages at COP28. Woodwell Climate had a strong presence, sending 16 scientists and staff to advocate on a variety of issues, including increased ambition in curbing emissions, funding for adaptation measures, action around permafrost and tropical forest issues, and improvements in transparency around carbon markets. Here are some of our key highlights and takeaways from COP28. Protecting tropical forests One core tenet of the Center’s research is protecting and restoring natural ecosystems for both their intrinsic and
climate importance. A check-in on pledges to end deforestation by 2030 shows they are mostly going unmet, but the final agreement did include language that acknowledged the importance of “protecting, conserving, and restoring forests,” which Woodwell Carbon Program Director Dr. Wayne Walker notes was another significant inclusion this year. “Nature has a tremendous role to play and that’s really what this section is trying to emphasize: the importance of bringing nature to bear in the mitigation conversation alongside transitioning away from fossil fuels,” says Dr. Walker. Woodwell Climate used this year’s COP to build and deepen partnerships that advance efforts to protect the carbonstorage powerhouses that are tropical forests. For example, Woodwell Climate hosted a discussion with Health in Harmony and Pawanka Fund about the power of investing in Indigenous-led climate solutions. “Woodwell has been partnering increasingly with organizations like Health in Harmony and Pawanka fund, who are really strong advocates of Indigenous self-determination,” says Dr. Walker. “Pawanka Fund is a really great
Left to right: Dr. Glenn Bush, Woodwell Climate; Joan Carling, Pawanka Fund; Dr. Myrna Cunningham, Pawanka Fund; Dr. Wayne Walker, Woodwell Climate, on a COP28 panel hosted by Woodwell Climate. / photo by Heather Goldstone
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example of an Indigenous-led fund that provides direct support to Indigenous initiatives focused on promoting and protecting traditional knowledge, well-being, rights, and self-determined solutions to a whole host of issues. Organizations like [them] are critical to properly compensating Indigenous peoples for their contributions to climate change mitigation.” Climate risk and carbon markets On December 5, Woodwell Climate announced the release of a new report in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The report was the culmination of a multi-year collaboration to generate a localized, customized, cost-free climate risk assessment for the country that details both challenges and solutions. “This report was two years in the making, and was only possible because of close collaboration between Woodwell scientists, government leaders in the DRC, and experts at the University of Kinshasa,” says Woodwell Chief of Government Relations, Dave McGlinchey. “Our goal was to provide an actionable risk assessment that could directly inform Congolese policymaking. We developed that, but our partnership also identified the need for increased scientific and technical capacity, as well as a new framework for carbon market regulation.” The assessment identified improved carbon credit integrity as a mechanism to fund climate adaptation projects in the DRC and support forest preservation as a critical natural climate solution. “We and others think carbon markets will have tremendous potential for bringing MORE
For the full debrief of COP28, watch a recording of our wrap-up webinar: youtube.com/watch?v=bIHHYQvmh5w
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large amounts of capital to the ground to the people into the places responsible for implementing natural climate solutions,” says Dr. Walker. “But there’s no question that right now, carbon markets are plagued with all sorts of problems. There’s a lot of work to be done if they’re to function properly, sustainably, equitably.” Pushing for permafrost accountability The effects of permafrost thaw must be recognized in international climate negotiations if we are to meaningfully address climate change, says Woodwell senior scientist and Permafrost Pathways lead Dr. Sue Natali, and making the impacts of Arctic warming visible on the world stage is crucial to progress. “Permafrost emissions can consume about 20% of our remaining carbon budget to avoid 1.5 C, and there will be much greater emissions from permafrost if we overshoot 1.5 C,” says Dr. Natali. Unfortunately, neither the Arctic nor permafrost were mentioned in the COP28 final agreement. Dr. Natali spoke at several events in the Woodwell Climate space as well as in the Cryosphere Pavilion during Permafrost Day. Top of mind was not only the need to incorporate permafrost emissions into global carbon budgets, but also the need for Loss and Damage funding to extend to Northern communities being displaced by thawing and eroding permafrost. Discussions around Loss and Damage funding are currently focused on supporting countries in the global south, but many Arctic Indigenous communities are grappling with decisions about relocation and adaptation.
“These communities are losing their land to permafrost thaw, wildfire, and erosion. This has been going on for decades and the international community must commit adequate resources to support climate resilience,” Dr. Natali says. Where the rubber meets the road “These high-minded Nationally Determined Commitments are ambitious in their target setting, but the national level policy is where they become reality,” says McGlinchey. Emphasizing that we will have to wait and see how the promises made at this year’s COP are enacted by different nations. During the conference, the Woodwell Climate meeting space was visited by two U.S. senators, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who showed interest in permafrost and other climate issues. Looking towards COP29, which will be hosted in Azerbaijan, the hope is that ambition and national commitments will increase, because while progress was made in this year’s agreement, it was nowhere near big enough to limit warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. With current warming at around 1.2 degrees, we will have to be swift and decisive. “This past year was a remarkable one— the hottest on record. The impacts of climate change are here and are being felt by people here and around the world. And that adds urgency,” says Dr. Holmes.
Joseph Zambo answers questions about the newly released risk report produced in partnership with the DRC Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. / photo by Heather Goldstone
December 2023
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Ten climate action highlights from 2023 Here’s how Woodwell Climate advanced climate science and solutions in the last year Alli Dickey
Social Media Specialist
1 Collaborating with communities This year, Woodwell Climate’s Just Access Initiative went global. Just Access works in close partnership with communities to provide tailored, actionable climate risk reports for Rio Branco, Brazil; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Summit County, Utah; and Lawrence, MA. At COP28, Just Access released its latest report in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the DRC, which focused on climate risks and potential solutions in the country and identified carbon markets as a potential funding mechanism for adaptation efforts. Just Access collaborates with local officials and advocates to ensure the final reports cover information critical to their community’s planning. So far, 14 reports have been completed and more are on the way. 2 Tongass National Forest protection In January of 2023, the Biden Administration restored protections against logging and road-building for more than 9 million acres of the Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest. This came after Woodwell Climate’s Dr. Wayne Walker and Geospatial Analyst Seth Gorelik, along with long-time collaborator Dr. Dominick DellaSalla of Wild Heritage, map by Christina Shintani
Sarah Ruiz
Science Writer/Editor
delivered a research report to the Biden administration showing massive carbon stores in Tongass National Forest and highlighting the importance of roadless areas. 3 Community science with Science on the Fly In 2023, Science on the Fly (SOTF) focused its activities on stewarding its community of scientists. Together they collected more than 3,000 water samples from hundreds of locations around the globe. SOTF leverages the passion and dedication of the global fly fishing community to gather data on the health of rivers across the world. With this data,
SOTF can improve our understanding of how watersheds and river systems change over time due to climate change and local effects. 4 Training the next generation of researchers We sent 10 Polaris Project students into the field this summer. The Polaris Project engages the brightest young minds from a diversity of backgrounds to tackle global climate research in one of Earth’s most vulnerable environments: the Arctic. Students conducted their own research projects over two weeks at a field research station near Bethel, Alaska. Afterward, they returned to the Center to analyze
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Monthly Newsletter
samples, and presented their findings at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December.
face with federal and state government representatives to access resources and technical assistance.
Woodwell Climate also hosted several interns through the Partnership Education Program. These undergraduate students participated in research and communications activities across the Center.
6 Representing our expertise
5 Convening critical conversations Woodwell Climate has been conducting tropical forest research in Brazil for nearly two decades alongside partner organization IPAM Amazônia. This year, Water Program Director, Dr. Marcia Macedo and collaborators, including Dr. Ane Alencar of IPAM, convened a multiday workshop in Brazil that produced a policy brief on forest degradation. They then organized experts to submit public comments on Brazil’s updated policy for controlling Amazon deforestation, which for the first time also addresses forest degradation. Across the globe, Permafrost Pathways partner, Alaska Institute for Justice (AIJ), hosted a “Rights, Resilience, and Community-Led Adaptation” workshop on Dena’ina homelands in Anchorage, Alaska. The two-day workshop created space for Tribes to share their expertise with each other and connect face-to-
Our experts showed up as thought leaders this year at several high profile events. As just a few examples, Woodwell Climate’s Arctic Program Director Dr. Sue Natali and Senior Science Policy Advisor Peter Frumhoff both spoke on panels alongside other leading voices in climate at SxSW in Austin, TX. Senior Geospatial Analyst, Greg Fiske attended the Esri User Conference, where his topographic map of Alaska garnered two awards. And Assistant Scientist, Dr. Ludmila Rattis gave a talk at TED Countdown about her research on the role of Tapirs in rainforest restoration.
between climate change and extreme weather events. 8 Rebuilding an Arctic research station Last fall, Scotty Creek Research Station in Canada—one of the only Indigenousled climate research stations in the world—was almost entirely consumed by a late-season wildfire. Woodwell Climate’s Permafrost Pathways project is providing rebuilding support to the Łíídl˛ı˛ı K�ų�ę First Nation. Project scientists Dr. Kyle Arndt and Marco Montemayor visited the site for two weeks this spring to restore an essential carbon monitoring tower.
7 Making headlines Woodwell Climate team members showed up in over 5,000 media stories this year. Our scientific leadership provided quotes for a broad range of high profile climate stories in the New York Times, Reuters, Boston Globe, CNN, and Grist, just to name a few. Senior Scientist Dr. Jen Francis was quoted over 4.2K times, appearing in major news outlets like the Washington Post and AP News to provide accessible context about the links
above left: Polaris Project 2023 students. / photo courtesy of Sue Natali; above right: Ludmila Rattis speaks at TED Countdown, July 2023 / photo by Jasmina Tomic/TED; above: Sunrise over the Scotty Creek tower site in March 2023. / photo by Marco Montemayor
December 2023
9 Advancing the scientific literature Our researchers published 80 peerreviewed scientific publications this year. From the Arctic to the Tropics, from soil concentrations to river concentrations, Woodwell Climate had a part in discovery. Some major highlights: ■
Assessing carbon stocks and accumulation potential of mature forests and larger trees in U.S. federal lands
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Recent trends in the chemistry of major northern rivers signal widespread Arctic change
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Grain-cropping suitability for evaluating the agricultural land use change in Brazil
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Observational and model evidence together support wide-spread exposure to noncompensable heat under continued global warming
10 Leading on the world stage Woodwell Climate’s President & CEO Dr. Max Holmes brought Woodwell Climate to the main stage of CERAWeek, Green Accelerator Davos, GenZero Climate Summit in Singapore, Climate Week NYC, and Mountainfilm Festival. He discussed cutting-edge climate science alongside notable figures like Bill McKibben and former Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez.
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Read the online version, which includes links to related stories: woodwellclimate.org/ climate-action-highlights-2023
above: Max Holmes speaks at CERAWeek.
In the news: highlights Dr. Max Holmes offered his view of the importance of COP in a Fast Company article explaining what actually happens at the COP climate summits.
Dr. Anna Liljedahl was interviewed by CNN about her permafrost and AI work for an article examining how AI could power the climate breakthrough the world needs.
Dr. Anna Liljedahl shared her perspective on U.S. climate progress in 2023 in an article from Grist.
Audubon published an article mentioning Woodwell Climate’s collaboration with EarthOptics on a project monitoring soil carbon and health in Audubon-certified bird-friendly ranches.
Sue Natali was quoted in a New York Times article on Dr. NOAA’s most recent Arctic Report Card. Excerpts were shared by Axios and Indian Express. Dr. Mike Coe was quoted in a widely-syndicated Reuters article on the continuing impacts of the Amazon’s climate-driven drought.
An article in Envolverde covered the signing of an agreement between Woodwell Climate, IPAM, and Bayer that launched the new GALO (Global Assessment from Local Observations) project, quoting Dr. Ludmila Rattis about agriculture and preservation of natural ecosystems in the Amazon and Cerrado (Portuguese).
BNN Bloomberg quoted Dr. Jen Francis in an article about unusually warm December weather that was published in a number of other outlets, including Farm Progress.
AgroLink quoted Dr. Ludmila Rattis in an article covering an upcoming announcement at COP about a new project in collaboration with IPAM, funded by Bayer (Portuguese).
The Microbiologist interviewed Dr. Taniya RoyChowdhury for an article covering her receipt of the inaugural Christina Figueres Prize.
An article on allaboutfeed.net covered recently published research led by Dr. Kyle Arndt about how seaweed in dairy cows’ diets affects their manure and associated carbon emissions.
Over 100 nations signed a declaration promising to incorporate agriculture and food systems into their climate targets; Folha de S. Paulo included Dr. Ludmila Rattis’ perspective in an article covering the announcement (Portuguese).
Dr. Wayne Walker was quoted by Daily Kos in their overnight news digest to provide context on a recent study examining the carbon storing potential of forests.
Kathleen Savage was quoted in an Eos article, providing context on a research team’s newly-developed autonomous robots that measure carbon fluxes. Inside Climate News quoted Dr. Rich Birdsey in a story covering developments in longleaf pine restoration in the southern U.S.
An article in the Charleston City Paper on flood risk and development in the city referenced Woodwell Climate’s Charleston risk assessment. Gizmodo Brazil covered collaborative research done in part by Woodwell Climate, showing an increase in extreme weather events in Acre, Brazil (Portuguese).
cover: photo by Julianne Waite
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