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UN-FCCC Bonn meeting June 2009

UN-FCCC Bonn meeting June 2009. Peatlands, carbon and climate change. Marcel.Silvius@wetlands.org. Countries with most peat. World wide 400 million ha 3% of global land area 40% of all wetlands In all climate zones. Peatlands occur everywhere … from the tundra ….

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UN-FCCC Bonn meeting June 2009

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  1. UN-FCCC Bonn meeting June 2009 Peatlands, carbon and climate change Marcel.Silvius@wetlands.org

  2. Countries with most peat • World wide 400 million ha • 3% of global land area • 40% of all wetlands • In all climate zones

  3. Peatlands occur everywhere … from the tundra … Yakutia, Russian Federation

  4. ...to the tropics… Berbak National Park, Indonesia

  5. … from the mountains … Kyrgystan

  6. Over permafrost NWT, Canada

  7. Under grasslands … Sichuan, China

  8. … along the rivers … Kyrgystan Ruaha River Tanzania

  9. … to the sea … Archangelsk, RF

  10. …to the end of the Earth… Tierra del Fuego Argentina

  11. But peatlands are overlooked… • Unfamiliarity • Large diversity • Peatland habitat diversity • climate conditions • Spatial heterogeneity • thickness, • landuse • Various greenhouse gases • Variability of parameters over time • Weather • Water level • Vegetation • Land-use

  12. The peat bog is rain water fed Tropical peat swamp forest River River Organic carbon < 1m > 3m What are peatlands? Peat: Organic matter accumulated over thousands of years, storing concentrated carbon in thick layers Mineral Soil Peat dome

  13. Peatlands are water Flow Country, Scotland

  14. Peat, carbon and climate change • Globally peatlands store 550 Giga ton (Gt) Carbon • Equivalent to 30% of terrestrial carbon • twice the carbon stored in forest biomass • 75% of all carbon in the atmosphere • Global emissions 2 - 3 Gt CO2 / yr ~ 30 - 40% of LULUCF Peatlands store large amounts of carbon Peatland degradation leads to GHG emissions which contribute to global warming

  15. C-sink: ~ 250 Mt “CO2” a-1 C-source: ~ 10 Mt CH4 a-1 = ~ 250 Mt CO2-eq 100 y time horizon In longer-term peatlands are climate cooling

  16. Drainage: emissions of up to 100 t CO2-eq ha-1 y-1 …that continue for many decades Kalimantan, Indonesia

  17. Hotspots of CO2 emissions from drained peat • < 0.5% of land surface 9-15% of global emissions • ~ half from Annex 1 countries • SE Asia: • 5-8% of global emissions • world’s main source area of peat emissions

  18. SE Asian peatland emissions disproportionately high 6% of global peat area 50-70% of global peat emissions < 0.1% of global land area 5-8% of global CO2 emissions SE Asia Russia N America Indonesia Malaysia

  19. Peatland issues • Deforestation • Degradation • Drainage • Fires

  20. Tropical peat forest deforestation • Peatland deforestation: • since 2000: 1.5%/yr: twice the rate for non-peatlands • currently 45% deforested • 96% degraded • Peat forest conservation • < 5% of total peatland area

  21. Logging and drainage • Channels used to transport equipment and logs • Result: drainage and oxidation of peat soil • High emissions of CO2 • Increased fire risks

  22. Conversion SE Asian peat forest areas A total of about 13 million ha of SE Asian peat swamps have been drained for agriculture and plantations

  23. On the issue of continued emissions Conversion of peatswamp rainforest to oil palm plantation 2500 loss: > 430 tC/ha 2000 1500 carbon store (t C ha-1) 1000 500 loss: > 130 tC/ha 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 years after conversion

  24. Adapted from data provided by Siegert and Page Peat drainage increases the risk of fires • Between 1997 and 2006 there were over 60,000 fires in peat swamp areas on Borneo in 3 out of 10 years (1997, 1998, 2002) • Most affected were deforested and drained peatlands

  25. Rewetting CO2 N2O CH4

  26. What if current ignorance continues No incentive mechanism to address 2-3 GT CO2-eq emissions No incentive to deal with almost half of LULUCF

  27. Peat in REDD • Include all 5 carbon pools (IPCC 2006) • Most promising mechanism for addressing emissions from degraded peat swamp forests • Include emissions from deforested peatlands (i.e. emissions resulting from past deforestation) • Similar mechanism needed for non-forest peatlands • Exclude drained plantations

  28. Bio-rights REDD for peat forests recommendations • Support developing countries to get REDDI • Inventories and assessments • MRV capacity • Community-based, pro-poor approach • New mechanisms for equitable sharing • Local ownership and capacity

  29. Rapid action needed or 2020…?

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