|
Carbon capture and storage nature's way: Part 2 |
|
|
|
|
 Agriculture could be climate neutral by 2030, the UN Environment Program Report finds. The agricultural sector has the largest readily achievable gains in carbon storage if best management practices, such as avoiding turning over the soil and using natural nutrients like compost and manure, were widely adopted.
Agroforestry such as palm oil cultivation - where food production is combined with tree planting - has a particularly high potential for carbon sequestration in tropical areas.
Although peatlands cover only a tiny percentage of the Earth's surface they are, metre for metre, the most effective carbon stores of all ecosystems, the report shows.
If carbon emissions were valued at US$100 of CO2 equivalent, in 2030 the agricultural sector would be second only to building as potentially the most important sector for achieving carbon cuts.
At this level of carbon pricing, forestry and agriculture combined would be more important than any other single sector, and would retain high importance at even lower carbon prices.
Yet now, international climate regime only partly addresses emissions from land-use change, such as deforestation, and does not provide incentives for reducing carbon emissions from forests and other ecosystems, let alone for conserving them as carbon sinks.
It is expected that governments negotiating the new climate agreement in Copenhagen in December this year will take the first step in this direction by starting to pay developing countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
The cost of ecosystem carbon management can be very low compared to other clean energy options, the report states. Managing grazing, fertilizers and fire on grasslands to reduce emissions costs as little as US$5 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
Restoration of soils and degraded land cost about US$10 per tonne, while the costs of technological carbon capture and storage are estimated at US$20-270 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The economic mitigation potential of forestry would double if carbon prices increased from US$20 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent to US$100 per tonne.
The report suggests that a more comprehensive system of payments for ecosystem services should be considered.
"Our planet's living systems have developed ingenious, efficient and cost-effective ways to manage carbon. Sending the right price signals to those who make economic and development choices about the value of preserving and effectively managing our forests, grasslands, peatlands and agricultural lands is critical for the success of any climate change mitigation strategies," the report says.
UNEP and partners, with funding from the Global Environment Facility, have launched a new project among communities in Western Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and China, to assess with greater precision the amount of carbon locked away in different ecosystems and landscapes under a variety of management regimes.
The findings, leading to a global standard upon which carbon investment decisions can be taken, should be available in 18 months. THE END
Source: ENS Newswire |
Comments
You must javascript enabled to use this form
You are not authorized to leave comments. Please
Login first.
If you are not a member, please register
here.
