Keep it cool: fixing the climate with permafrost and peatlands
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Peatlands Matter for the climate. Estimates suggest that while peatlands cover only 3% of the global land surface area they store over 500 billion tonnes of carbon– equal to the carbon that is contained in all terrestrial biomass and twice as much as in all the world’s forest biomass. Current greenhouse gas emissions from drained or burning peatlands are estimated to be 5% of all emissions caused by human activity – close to two billion tons of CO2 per year. If the world has any hope of keeping the global average temperature increase under 2˚C then urgent action must be taken to keep carbon locked in peatlands where it is – wet, and in the ground. And at the same time, already drained and degraded peatlands must be rewet and restored to halt the significant emissions they release into the atmosphere. These powerful carbon sinks are the largest, long-term carbon store of any terrestrial ecosystem. This is a photo of palm oil plantations on drained peatlands in Indonesian.
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Keep it cool: fixing the climate with permafrost and peatlands
- 2. An Initiative to save peatlands as the world's largest terrestrial organic carbon stock.
- 3. Peatlands matter for the climate
- 4. Peatlands matter for people
- 5. Peatlands matter for the planet
- 10. Keep it cool: fixing the climate with permafrost and peatlands Speakers: – Hans Joosten, Greifswald Mire Centre (Germany) – Yannick Beaudoin, David Suzuki Foundation (Canada) – Tatiana Minayeva, Care for Ecosystems (Germany) – Daria Ryazantseva, Ethnoexpert (Russia) – Candice Pedersen, Inuit representative (Canada) – Zamba Batjargal, Special envoy on climate change (Mongolia)
Editor's Notes
- UN Environment has the honor of leading the Global Peatlands Initiative - an Initiative to save peatlands as the world's largest terrestrial organic carbon stock.
- Peatlands Matter for the climate. Estimates suggest that while peatlands cover only 3% of the global land surface area they store over 500 billion tonnes of carbon– equal to the carbon that is contained in all terrestrial biomass and twice as much as in all the world’s forest biomass. Current greenhouse gas emissions from drained or burning peatlands are estimated to be 5% of all emissions caused by human activity – close to two billion tons of CO2 per year. If the world has any hope of keeping the global average temperature increase under 2˚C then urgent action must be taken to keep carbon locked in peatlands where it is – wet, and in the ground. And at the same time, already drained and degraded peatlands must be rewet and restored to halt the significant emissions they release into the atmosphere. These powerful carbon sinks are the largest, long-term carbon store of any terrestrial ecosystem. This is a photo of palm oil plantations on drained peatlands in Indonesian.
- Peatlands matter for people around the world. In addition to the role they play in climate change mitigation and adaptation through carbon sequestration and storage, they contribute significantly to biodiversity conservation, water regime and quality regulation, and the provision of other ecosystem services that support livelihoods and economic, social and cultural wellbeing. Immediate action is required to prevent further peatland degradation and the serious environmental, economic and social repercussions it entails. Existing options to tackle the issue vary, and for that reason implementation should be regionally adapted to local environmental, economic and social needs and characteristics. This is a photo of Mongolian peatlands.
- Peatlands matter for the planet. More than 180 countries have peatlands but we are only just starting to understand their role in both water cycling and climate change and our efforts to curb it. For example, in 2017, an international team of scientists mapped the world’s biggest tropical Peatland in Cuvette Centrale in the Congo Basin. First estimates suggested that it contains around 30 gigatons of carbon, which is as much as the United States economy emits in 15 years. Peatlands are home to some of the rarest and most endangered biodiversity – which gives us another reason to pay special attention to these unique ecosystems. This is an aerial photo of the Congo Basin Cuvette Centrale Peatlands, courtesy of Boberta Bondar from NASA.
- Keeping peat carbon in the ground is crucial if the world is to meet the target of the Paris Climate Change Agreement to keep the global average temperature increase under two degrees Celsius. To achieve this target, every country and its citizens need to undertake “business unusual” so that global carbon emissions reach net zero by around 2050 - a date and target just around the corner. Over-exploited and damaged by actions such as drainage, agricultural conversion, infrastructure development, oil and gas and mining for fuel – parts of the world are feeling the impacts and pressure to reduce emissions from their peatlands. This map from 2009 shows estimates of varying peatland carbon emissions around the globe. New maps are emerging and our Initiative is working on pulling these maps together to give an updated global peatland picture this year.
- Success for emissions reduction on a global-scale requires global action on peatlands built on experience and approaches from science to policy and innovation to financing. We need to deliver quick and significant wins for climate action on the ground through peatlands management. The Global Peatlands Initiative is an international partnership formed by 13 founding members at the UNFCCC COP in Marrakech, Morocco at the end of 2016. Since then, the Initiative has grown to 28 international organizations with 4 major tropical peatland countries of Indonesia, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Peru who have come together to urgently to improve the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of peatlands globally. UN Environment leads the Initiative and I have the privilege of coordinating this dynamic Initiative.
- The Global Peatlands Initiative aims to help build an understanding of the rates, drivers and pathways of peatland ecosystem change. We work with countries to help them make well-informed decisions and to develop management and policy options that minimize impacts on people and the environment and avoid dangerous social and climatic tipping points linked to peatland loss and degradation. As a first step in filling the information gap, the Initiative launched in November 2017 –Smoke On Water – Countering Global Threats from Peatland Loss and Degradation. It is a Rapid Response Assessment that brings forward key knowledge to explain both the need and opportunity to rapidly protect and restore peatlands.
- We are making headway in 2019 including with the adoption of the peatlands resolution at the Fourth United Nations Environment Assembly in March. The resolution is a commitment by all member states in the world to "give greater emphasis to the conservation, sustainable management and restoration of peatlands worldwide in support of the sustainable practice of the peatland management".
- Please help me to welcome Hans and our other distinguished guest speakers … Yannick Beaudoin is Director-General for Ontario and Northern Canada with the David Suzuki Foundation. He brings a ‘new economics for transition’ lens to the organization to enable the transformation of Canada towards social and ecological sustainability. Tatiana Minayeva is a scientist who has worked all over the world on Nature conservation, land use planning and has deep knowledge of peatlands. Tatiana applied her knowledge on permafrost ecosystems while working in the Mongolian highland peatlands. She is Managing Director of Care for Ecosystems UG, an environmental consultant based in Germany and Associate expert in Wetlands International. Daria Ryazantseva has a master’s and continues to study at St. Petersburg State University. Since 2017. She has been working with EthnoExpert where she participates in company projects related to sustainable development of the indigenous population in various regions of Russia. Candice Pedersen is a young Inuk who grew up in Nunavut, A graduate of the Environmental Technology Program, Candice has been working in the enforcement field for the Government of Nunavut and the Federal Government of Canada. most recently, Candice has been focusing on building the relationships between Inuit and researchers This is a photo of Thermokarst taken in Pokhodst, Russia
- And today , our presentation is going to focus on 3 regions: -Arctic -Kola Peninsula (Siberia) -Mongolia
- Every few years, UNEP reaches out to over 500 scientists and all countries of the world to ask them the top 5 global emerging issues of global environmental concern. Last year people identified peatlands as one of these. Our session will explore the unique properties of peatlands on permafrost and how special these vastly unknown places are for the people, the planet and our climate future. The chapter, Permafrost Peatlands: Losing ground in a warming world is a collaboration and has been reviewed by top scientists. It’s my honor and absolute pleasure to introduce you to Prof. Hans Joosten. Hans is a world renowned peatlands scientist, the Secretary General of the International Mire Conservation Group and Professor at Greifswald University part of the Greifswald Mire Center who are a vital partner of our Global Peatlands Initiative. And he will dive into sharing what he knows about this interesting ecosystem.