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Challenges and perspectives Wetland Management Susanna Tol – Wetlands International HQ

Challenges and perspectives Wetland Management Susanna Tol – Wetlands International HQ. Preventing and reducing peatland emissions is currently not addressed by the global climate treaty… Main call: Protect and restore peatlands under a post-2012 climate framework . Rouergai, China.

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Challenges and perspectives Wetland Management Susanna Tol – Wetlands International HQ

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  1. Challenges and perspectives Wetland Management Susanna Tol – Wetlands International HQ

  2. Preventing and reducing peatland emissions is currently not addressed by the global climate treaty… Main call: Protect and restore peatlands under a post-2012 climate framework Rouergai, China

  3. Peatlands are the most space-effective carbon stocks of all terrestrial ecosystems: • Boreal zone: 7 x more carbon per ha; Tropics: 10x • 3% of the world’s land area, 500 Gt Carbon • Equivalent to all terrestrial biomass, and 2 x the carbon stock in the total forest biomass of the world

  4. Sequestration and long-term storage of carbon require permanent waterlogging. When drained, peatlands become vigorous sources of carbon dioxide (and nitrous oxide)…

  5. …that continue emitting until all peat is oxidized…

  6. Peatlands are found in 175 countries. Worldwide: 4 million km2

  7. from the tundra …to the tropics…to the mountains…to the sea… Borneo Yakutia, RF Kyrgystan Archangelsk, RF

  8. 0.3 % of the land surface is responsible for 6 % of the total global anthropogenic CO2 emissions…

  9. Drained peatlands: emission hot spots

  10. Largest emitters from peat drainage(in Mtons/yr, excl. peat extraction and fires)

  11. World picture • Global CO2 emissions from drainage: 1.3 Gton/a (excl. extracted peat and fires) • Annex 1 countries: 0.5 Gton CO2 • 15 countries higher peat than fossil fuel emissions • SE Asia: peat emissions = 70% of fossil fuel emissions • Sub-Sahara Africa (excl. South Africa) peat emissions = 25% of all fossil fuel emissions • Since 1990 peatland emissions have increased in 50 countries (including 40 developing countries)

  12. Causes of emissions • Main hotspot SE Asia: deforestation, fire…and peatland drainage for palm oil and pulp • Drained and abandoned peatlands in C&E-Europe • Peatland drainage for agriculture in Uganda • Peatland mining,overgrazing and desertification in Mongolia • Drainage, overgrazing and erosion in China

  13. Germany Less emissions can be achieved throughpeatland rewetting

  14. UK • Rewetting pilot projects in many parts of the world

  15. Peatland rewetting Emission reduction potential: • Gross 2 Gtons on 500,000 km2 • Nett: much less • Half of the CO2 reduction annihilated by CH4 emissions after rewetting • realistic several 100s Mton CO2-eq./yr • Preventing and reducing peatland emissions is currently not well addressed by the global climate treaty…

  16. Reducing peat emissions in Annex I Call for LULUCF: • Mandatory accounting for wetland management • Working towards land-based accounting Most comprehensive and fair.

  17. Reducing peat emissions in Annex I Bio-energy: • Introduced through incentives KP • Energy and land use are closely interlinked • Pressure biofuel and food crops on land not being accounted • And on land for which opportunity costs are low • Projected peatland drainage for biofuels, windmills, …… • MANDATORY ACCOUNTING CAN HELP PREVENTING THIS • And concentrate such land use on degraded land

  18. Reducing peat emissions in Annex I

  19. Reducing peat emissions in non-Annex I Call for REDD+: REDD: reducing emissions from organic soils: • Protecting intact natural peatswamp forests • Restoring degraded peatswamp forests AND: • emissions from non-forested peat soils

  20. Further reading… Downloadable from www.wetlands.org and www.imcg.net

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