Susan Cook-Patton and Lynn Riley

- The Nature Conservancy and American Forest Foundation

New Frontier: Adjusting Carbon Benefits for Albedo Effects and Other Climate Feedbacks

November 18, 2025 - 12:00 PM

Restoring tree cover changes albedo, which is the fraction of sunlight reflected from the Earth’s surface, and can reduce or even negate the climate benefit. Cook-Patton and Riley produced maps of the likely albedo change for restoring tree cover, making it possible to find places that provide net-positive climate mitigation benefits. Within the VCM, they find that utilizing these maps is important to avoiding adverse albedo changes, accurately accounting for net climate mitigation, and prioritizing projects in places with the greatest potential impact, and will share ways that project developers, funders, standards, and others can begin to implement this important climate piece today.

Speaker Biographies

Sarah Cook-Patton – Lead Reforestation Scientist, Climate Solutions Team, The Nature Conservancy

Dr. Susan Cook-Patton is Lead Reforestation Scientist on The Nature Conservancy’s Natural Climate Solutions team. Her work focuses on quantifying the climate mitigation potential of reforestation, agroforestry and other natural climate solutions and helping to infuse the best-available science into land management decisions. This involves deep collaboration with many experts across the globe, from academic, government and other non-governmental organizations.

Lynn Riley – Lead Scientist, American Forest Foundation

Lynn Riley is the Lead Scientist for the American Forest Foundation. She is responsible for the scientific quality and methodological underpinning and innovation of AFF’s work, influencing their forest management practices, credit calculations, and scientific claims. Riley supported the validation of the first-ever dynamic baseline methodology through Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard and set up the program’s first monitoring, reporting, and verification infrastructure. She now works with standards bodies, academics, fellow project developers, and teammates to continue to advance high-integrity CO₂ removal and emission reduction methods and tools in ways that also work for small landowners.