{"id":130841,"date":"2021-09-02T19:54:09","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T14:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=130841"},"modified":"2021-09-04T16:31:17","modified_gmt":"2021-09-04T11:01:17","slug":"lets-talk-land-sinks-are-they-enough-to-beat-global-warming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/lets-talk-land-sinks-are-they-enough-to-beat-global-warming\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s talk land sinks: Are they enough to beat global warming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>: This post is based on the article “Let’s talk land sinks: Are they enough to beat global warming<\/span>“<\/strong> published in Down to Earth<\/strong> on 2nd September 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus<\/strong>: GS3 \u2013 Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.<\/p>\n

Relevance<\/strong>: Protecting land is important in the fight against global warming.<\/p>\n

Synopsis<\/strong>: The world is not on track to reduce GHG emissions at the scale needed to avert a temperature rise of 1.5 \u00b0C over pre-industrial levels. The solution, then, is to find ways in which emissions can be removed from the atmosphere and growing trees become part of this package.<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h5>\n

About 56% of the carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) emitted by humans is absorbed by the oceans and land out of which 30% is removed by land alone. Forests, grasslands and wetlands act as sinks and remove a part of the CO2<\/sub> emitted through human activities like burning fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the land is also a source of emissions \u2014burning of forests and other disturbances add CO2<\/sub> to the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

How does land help in reducing GHG emissions?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land 2019<\/strong> (SRCCL) by the IPCC, l<\/strong>and use accounted for 13% of anthropogenic CO2<\/sub> emissions during 2007-2016. But it also provided a net sink of around 11.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to 29% of the total CO2<\/sub> emissions in the same period. This means 29-30% of human-driven CO2<\/sub> emissions have been soaked up by the world\u2019s land sinks<\/strong> during the past three decades.<\/p>\n

Thus, adding to forests and restoring land can benefit local communities<\/strong> as environmental degradation impacts their livelihoods and impoverishes communities. It highlights the importance of land to mitigate the ill effects of GHG emissions.<\/p>\n

What are the challenges to the existing forest cover?<\/b><\/h5>\n

Increased heat levels: <\/strong>Increased heat adds to the moisture stress in forests and leading to widespread burning.<\/p>\n

Large scale cutting of forests: <\/b>Forests are being cut for different economic activities, reducing their role as sinks for the CO2<\/sub> released from fossil fuel burning.<\/p>\n

All these concerns and challenges call for greater international collaboration which is evident from the following.<\/p>\n

What are the global efforts to mitigate the challenges?<\/b><\/h5>\n

UNFCCC<\/strong>: The role of land (forests and agricultural land) as a mitigation pathway to reduce CO2<\/sub> emissions was recognized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)<\/strong> in 1992.<\/p>\n

The Kyoto Protocol:<\/strong> In 1997, the Kyoto protocol, called on the government to enhance the land carbon sink capacities of their territories and to reduce emissions from fossil fuel consumption.<\/p>\n

Bonn Challenge<\/strong>: In 2011, the IUCN launched the Bonn Challenge to restore 150 million hectares of the world’s degraded and deforested lands by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.<\/p>\n

UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: <\/strong>In March 2019, the UN General Assembly declared 2021-2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide.<\/p>\n

One trillion tree initiative: <\/strong>In January 2020, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, launched the \u2018one trillion tree\u2019 initiative to plant a trillion trees by 2030 and \u201caccelerate nature-based solutions in support of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030)\u201d.<\/p>\n

LEAF Coalition<\/strong>: In April 2021, the LEAF (Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance) Coalition was announced as a public-private effort led by the US, the UK and Norway. The initiative aims to mobilize at least $1 billion for financing countries committed to protecting their tropical forests. It is supported by corporations like Unilever plc, Amazon.com, Nestle and Airbnb.<\/p>\n

In May 2021, the G7 countries<\/strong> pledged to conserve or protect \u201cat least 30% of the global land and at least 30% of the global oceans by 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and address climate change\u201d.<\/p>\n

Terms to know<\/strong>:<\/p>\n