Partnerships for
Tribal Carbon Solutions

Partnerships for Tribal Carbon Solutions (PTCS), a program of Global Ocean Health, operates nationwide with three core goals: Engaging Tribes in assessing carbon removal opportunities and risks, supporting Tribes to develop leadership in carbon removal development and governance, and assisting Tribes in leveraging carbon removal to meet climate targets and advance community objectives for environmental health and stewardship.

We’ve Changed Our Name!

The shift from "Building Tribal Leadership in Carbon Removal" to "Partnerships for Tribal Carbon Solutions" underscores a watershed in our work: the formation of a new intertribal consortium to drive growth of Tribal leadership in this field from within Indian Country. Indigenous Greenhouse Gas Removal Commission (IGGRC), which launched out of this work, will play a key role in building Indigenous capacity to evaluate, govern, and develop projects chosen by Tribes themselves.

  • “Partnerships for Tribal Carbon Solutions is unique among collaborations that we have as tribal leaders…at its heart, this initiative supports us in defining our own path that braids together our goals for economic sovereignty, for legal recognition, for regaining some of our lost lands, and for our indelible commitment to stewardship and restoration. For us, the carbon crisis isn’t just another challenge. It’s a chance to build a climate-friendly economy —and a just, accountable system for governing it. We can define climate solutions that foster the kind of development we actually want—solutions that truly work for Indigenous people, for our neighbors, and for the planet.”

    — Fawn Sharp | Founding President of the IGGRC, 23rd President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) & 5-term President of the Quinault Indian Nation

  • "We talk the about seventh generation, honoring our ancestors, and linking our past to the present to the future. When we become ancestors, will people be proud of what we did when we were here? What is our legacy? We're in such a state of emergency worldwide. Carbon removal is a thing that everyone can help out with."

    -Kris Peters | Council Chairman of the Squaxin Island Tribe

Partnerships for Tribal Carbon Solutions (PTCS) is a program of Global Ocean Health. This program exists thanks to the vision of the late Terry Williams, who helped conceive and create this team and co-convened our first intertribal meeting. Terry was a revered natural resource manager at the Tulalip Tribes and an internationally known leader in environmental problem-solving. He established the EPA’s Indian Office under President Clinton, contributed to significant U.S. and regional climate change policies, and shaped UN policies on Indigenous rights. Terry's foresight into the critical role of Tribes in the emerging field of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) continues to guide our mission.

  • The Work

    Tribal involvement is crucial if human societies are to rise to this challenge and establish a strong, just, and lasting regime of carbon removal and climate restoration.

    Learn More

  • Resources

    A list of who we are following to stay current on research and information.

    Who We Follow

  • Tribal Carbon Solutions

    A publication designed to support Tribes and Indigenous communities, as well as their technical advisors and collaborators, as they take up an emerging class of climate solutions known as carbon dioxide removal.

    Read Here

News

  • PTCS Organizes Montlake NOAA Labs Tour for Tribal Scientists


    April 2024

    On April 17, 2024, PTCS organized a tour for tribal scientists of Dr. Paul McElhany’s research lab at NOAA’s Montlake Lab in Seattle. Dr. McElhany is studying shellfish responses to ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE). His studies on crabs and bivalves can provide an early view of methods and options for Tribes and others who are building capacity to evaluate, manage, or undertake projects in the fast-growing new field of marine carbon removal.

  • Carbon/Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Paving the way for tribal economic sovereignty


    Tribal Business News
    Feb 3, 2024 · 5 min read

    Is the development of the CDR and greenhouse gas reduction industries offering Indian Country a compelling opportunity to take charge of its own economic destiny and to throw off Native reliance on the assistance of the federal government? Many Natives in economic development activities think so.

    Read it Here.

  • Combined Indigenous CDFI/CDE Might Boost Tribal Carbon Removal Efforts


    Tribal Business News
    July 23, 2023 · 5 min read

    CDFIs are a logical candidate to help tribes increase access to capital for CDR and greenhouse-gas reduction, but they tend to be on the small side, suggesting that a hybrid encompassing another type of financial institution may help. An intriguing model is a combination Native CDFI / Native CDE.

    Read it Here.

  • Tribes and dairy farmers made a model renewable energy program


    NPR’s All Things Considered
    July 19, 2023 · 5 min read

    Tulalip Tribes and Werkhoeven Dairy in Monroe, Washington collaborate to capture methane from cow manure and other organic waste that powers a generator, producing enough renewable energy for nearly 700 homes.

    Read it Here.

  • Tribal Nations Launch Collaboration to Address Climate Crisis


    PRESS RELEASE
    Dec 1, 2022 · 5 min read

    New program aims to support Tribes on carbon pollution cleanup

    Read it Here.

Collaboration in British Columbia

October 2022

Canadian clean energy company, Huron Clean Energy with its partners, The Upper Nicola Band, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Carbon Engineering, announced that preliminary engineering and design has begun on a large-scale, commercial facility in British Columbia that would produce transportation fuel out of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Learn more here.

“It really sunk in that, yeah, we need to do something. So we rolled up our sleeves and started talking to individuals. And Carbon Engineering came and said, Let's work together. And we said, Yeah, let's do it.”
-Chief Harvey McLeod of the Upper Nicola Band