Officials say natural and working lands can supply most—but not all—of Massachusetts’ 2050 offsets; bond bill would bolster conservation

Massachusetts officials told a state legislative committee that protecting and better managing forests, wetlands, farms and soils—collectively “natural and working lands”—will be essential to meeting the Commonwealth’s net‑zero goals, even as they conceded those lands probably cannot supply the full amount of carbon removal the state has projected for 2050.

“By 2050, we expect to offset at least 10,000,000 metric tons in residual emissions and up to 7,000,000 metric tons could come from natural and working lands,” said Stephanie Cooper, executive officer at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), summarizing the administration’s current planning numbers. Cooper and other agency witnesses outlined components of Gov. Healey’s proposed $3,000,000,000 environmental bond bill, known in testimony as the Mass Ready Act, that would fund conservation, restoration and resilience projects across the state.

Why it matters: Massachusetts’ climate plan assumes dramatic public and private efforts to cut emissions and to “net out” the hardest‑to‑reduce residual emissions with nature‑based sequestration. Witnesses and advocates at the hearing agreed that those lands provide cost‑effective carbon removal and many co‑benefits—water protection, flood mitigation, biodiversity and public health—but said the state should not assume natural sequestration alone will close the gap to net zero.

EEA outlined the bond bill’s allocations and program updates in detail. Cooper listed program amounts included in the administration’s filing: $600,000,000 for inland and coastal flooding projects; $340,000,000 for open space and land protection; $30,000,000 for tree planting; $40,000,000 for wetlands restoration; $20,000,000 for biodiversity; $93,500,000 for dams and seawalls; and $200,000,000 for coastal resilience, including implementation of the state’s resilient coast plan. Cooper said the bill would also speed permitting for restoration by creating a general Chapter 91 license intended to approve eligible restoration projects within 60 days.

On sequestration capacity: Undersecretary Catherine Antos, EEA’s undersecretary for decarbonization and resilience,…