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THE CARBON VALUE OF NATURAL GLOBAL CARBON SINKS Executive Summary As the protection of tropical forests, through avoided deforestation, is being discussed in UNFCCC meetings as a means of off-setting and reducing global carbon emissions, an assimilation of recent research is pointing to the value of other landscapes as natural carbon sinks and sources. Discussions in this forum on reducing emissions from environmental disturbance must therefore consider the role that protection of additional landscapes can have in global initiatives to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Of the estimated 181 to 252 percent of global carbon emissions attributable to deforestation, a growing proportion of those emissions are due to the degradation and loss of additional carbon sinks that play a vital role in sequestration. Most notable are the emissions from degraded, drained, and decomposing peatlands which amount to the emission of approximately 632 Megatonnes of carbon every year3. This is further exacerbated by the fires associated with peatland degradation that contribute a further 1400 Megatonnes of carbon annually4. Peatlands, along with tropical forests and tropical grasslands and savannas, are widely distributed in developing countries worldwide, and these habitats are reservoirs for a large proportion of terrestrial carbon. As progress moves towards advancing global negotiations on reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries, it is essential that these negotiations incorporate the latest scientific research in deciding how best this might best be achieved, and consider the wider issue of degradation, not just of forests, but of other carbon-dense natural habitats. 1 Stern (2006). The Stern Review: The economics of climate change. Conservation International 3 Hooijer A, Silvius M, Wösten H & Page S. 2006. PEAT-CO2, Assessment of CO2 emissions from drained peatlands in SE Asia. Delft Hydraulics report. 4 Hooijer A, Silvius M, Wösten H & Page S. 2006. 2 Carbon storage in natural habitats In an analysis of ecosystems and their properties provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change5, the amount of carbon stored in the plant biomass and soils of other habitats, such as tropical forests, tropical grasslands and savannas, tundra, freshwater wetlands, and temperate and boreal forests, was described, revealing the pivotal role that protection of these habitats could also play in ameliorating global climate change. This is illustrated in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: The global areal extent (lower panel, Mkm2) of the major ecosystems, transformed by land use in yellow, untransformed in purple, and total carbon stores (upper panel, PgC) in plant biomass (green), soil (brown), yedoma/permafrost (light blue). D = deserts, G&S(tr) = tropical grasslands and savannas, G(te) = temperate grasslands, ME = mediterranean ecosystems, F(tr) = tropical forests, F(te) = temperate forests, F(b) = boreal forests, T = tundra, FW = freshwater lakes and wetlands, C = croplands, O = oceans. Approximate carbon content of the atmosphere (PgC) is indicated by the dotted lines for last glacial maximum (LGM), pre-industrial (P-IND) and current (about 2000). Source: Fischlin A., GF Midgley, JT Price, R Leemans, B Gopal, C Turley, MDA Rounsevell, 6 OP Dube, J Tarazona, AA Velichko (2007) . 5 Ecosystems, their properties, goods, and services. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., (2007) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 211-272. 6 Ecosystems, their properties, goods, and services. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In order to quantify the relative amount of carbon stored in each habitat, the amount of carbon per million square kilometres was calculated (Table 1). From these calculations, it can be seen that tropical forests are a large reservoir of carbon; however, the importance of other habitats is also highlighted. Most strikingly, tundra is revealed as one of the earth’s major carbon sinks, holding 206 billion tonnes of carbon for every million square kilometres. This is more than three times the carbon storage in tropical forests. Tundra accumulates carbon dioxide when plant remains are frozen into the permafrost by freezing winters, thereby stopping the decomposition of plant remains and trapping the carbon dioxide that would normally be given off during this process. The soil in freshwater wetlands and lakes is also a large storage depot of the world’s carbon, storing 53.4 billion tonnes per million square kilometres. The IPCC analysis included tropical, sub-tropical and boreal peatlands in this category. However, estimates of peatlands themselves, covering a global area of approximately 4 million square kilometres7, suggest that peatlands store an enormous amount of the world’s terrestrial carbon: up to 528 billion tonnes8,9, equating to 132 billion tonnes for every million square kilometres, and the equivalent of one-third of the world’s soil carbon10. Current emissions from the decomposition of drained peatlands, coupled with emissions from peatland fires resulting from drainage and degradation, are estimated at 2 billion tonnes every year, representing almost 8% of global emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Table 1 also demonstrates that the carbon content of temperate forests is only slightly lower than tropical forests at 42.1 billion tonnes per million square kilometres, as is the content of carbon stored in the shrub-dominated Mediterranean ecosystems at 42.1 billion tonnes per million square kilometres. Table 2 shows the distribution of the major categories of natural carbon sinks in developing (non-Annex 1) countries, and illustrates the widespread distribution of carbon-rich tropical forests and peatlands, as well as tropical grasslands and savannas in these countries. Conclusion While the current focus of international discussions to alleviate climate change is on the protection of tropical forests, this analysis of the carbon storage in a range of ecosystems demonstrates the reservoir value of habitats that have so far received very little consideration for protection under future carbon trading or emission reduction schemes, and highlights a range of natural carbon sinks, in addition to tropical forests, that could be quantified and included in future negotiations, either bilaterally, or in international fora. 7 Global Peatland Initiative. 2002. World Peatland Map. Gorham E. 1991. Northern peatlands: role in the carbon cycle and probable responses to climatic warming. Ecological Applications 1: 182–195. 9 Immirzi CP, Maltby E. 1992. The Global Status of Peatlands and their Role in Carbon Cycling. A report for Friends of the Earth by the Wetland Ecosystems Research Group. Report 11, Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. Friends of the Earth: London. 10 Hooijer A, Silvius M, Wösten H & Page S. 2006. PEAT-CO2, Assessment of CO2 emissions from drained peatlands in SE Asia. Delft Hydraulics report. 8 Table 1: The global extent of the major ecosystems, total carbon stores in plant biomass, soil and permafrost, percentage of total non-atmospheric CO2, and the relative amount of carbon stored in each habitat (Mkm2 – million square kilometres; PgC – petagrams of carbon. 1 PgC = 1.1 billion tonnes). Habitat Global Surface Area (Mkm2) Carbon stocks (PgC) Total carbon (billion tonnes) % of total nonatmospheric CO2 Amount of carbon (billion tonnes) per Mkm2 Plant Soil Permafrost Total Deserts 27.7 5 200 205 225.5 3.6 8.1 Tropical grasslands and savannas 28 100 400 500 550 8.7 19.6 Temperate grasslands 15 190 190 209 3.3 13.9 Tropical forests 17 350 700 1050 1155 18.2 66.1 Temperate forests 10 150 300 450 495 7.8 47.6 Mediterranean Ecosystems* 3 10 120 130 143 2.3 42.1 Boreal forests 14 50 150 200 220 3.5 16.0 Tundra 5.6 150 900 1050 1155 18.2 206.3 Freshwater lakes and wetlands** 10.3 500 500 550 8.7 53.4 Peatlandsa *** 4 528 8.3 132.0 Croplands 14 300 300 330 5.7 23.6 Oceans**** 349.3 700 700 770 12.2 2.2 Adapted from: Fischlin A., GF Midgley, JT Price, R Leemans, B Gopal, C Turley, MDA Rounsevell, OP Dube, J Tarazona, AA Velichko (2007), and aGlobal Peatland Initiative (2002); Gorham E (1991); Immirzi CP & Maltby E (1992). * Mediterranean ecosystems are located in mid-latitudes on all continents. Vegetation structure is mainly shrub-dominated, with limited woodlands, forests and grasslands. Heavily utilised landscapes are dominated grasses, herbs and annual plants. ** Freshwater lakes and wetlands includes tropical, sub-tropical and boreal peatlands, in addition to lakes and rivers *** Peatland data is based on global estimates of peatland alone **** Ocean carbon content includes dissolved and particulate organic carbon Table 2: The distribution of natural carbon sinks in developing (non-Annex 1) countries. Tropical grasslands & savannas Angola Argentina Bhutan Bolivia Botswana Brazil Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Colombia Côte d'Ivoire Congo, DR Eritrea Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Guinea Guyana India Indonesia Kenya Malawi Mali Mauritania Mexico Mozambique Namibia Nepal Temperate grasslands Argentina Mongolia South Africa Uruguay Tropical Forests Bangladesh Benin Bolivia Brazil Cameroon Central African Republic China Colombia Congo Congo, DR Costa Rica Cote d’Ivoire Ecuador Equatorial Guinea Gabon Ghana Guyana Honduras India Indonesia Liberia Madagascar Malaysia Mexico Nicaragua Nigeria Panama Papua New Guinea Peru Temperate forests Algeria Argentina Chile China Georgia India Iran Lebanon Mexico Morocco South Africa Boreal forests Kazakhstan Tundra None Peatlands Angola Argentina Bangladesh Brazil Burkina Faso Cambodia Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Chile China Congo Congo, DR El Salvador Guatemala Guinea Guyana Honduras India Indonesia Kenya Korea, DR Korea, Republic Lao Madagascar Malaysia Mali Mexico Mozambique Tropical grasslands & savannas Niger Nigeria Papua New Guinea Paraguay Rwanda Senegal South Africa Sudan Swaziland Togo Uganda Uruguay Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe Temperate grasslands Tropical Forests Philippines Sierra Leone Suriname Thailand Venezuela Vietnam Temperate forests Boreal forests Tundra Peatlands Myanmar Nicaragua Nigeria Pakistan Papua New Guinea Peru Philippines Senegal Sudan Suriname Tanzania Thailand Uganda Venezuela Vietnam Zambia