GHG inventories are an important first step in designing a climate action strategy, as they pinpoint where a community’s emissions come from and where the biggest reduction opportunities lie. However, until now, cities and communities have lacked detailed guidance on how to inventory GHG emissions from forests and trees within their borders.

New guidance developed by WRI, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and C40 Cities aims to change that. The new supplemental guidance for forests and trees to the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Inventories (GPC) — piloted in Jakarta, Mexico City, Mumbai, Salvador and multiple U.S. communities — walks cities and other communities through the process of estimating annual emissions and removals by forests and trees in their jurisdictions, including urban trees and trees in agricultural landscapes.

Read the five reasons communities should include trees and forests in both their GHG inventories and climate change mitigation and adaptation plans here.