The world needs to set aside an area bigger than the United States for tree planting and other measures to meet climate pledges, according to research published Tuesday that warned against "unrealistic" carbon-cutting plans.

Almost 200 nations will begin high-stakes UN climate talks in Egypt from November 6, as increasing damage from floods, heat waves and droughts are being felt across the world.

Recent UN assessments conclude that current policies and plans are not nearly enough to limit global warming and avoid catastrophic climate impacts.

They may also be unattainable, new research showed Tuesday on the planned use of land-based schemes such as tree planting to offset fossil fuel pollution.

An assessment of plans from 166 countries and the European Union, released by the University of Melbourne, estimated that the total area implied was almost 1.2 billion hectares (2.9 billion acres) -- bigger than the United States, or four times the size of India.

"Servicing all of the land-based carbon removal pledges is unrealistic because it would require a land mass half the size of current global cropland, putting potential pressure on ecosystems, food security and indigenous peoples' rights," the report said.

The research looked at countries' targets, particularly longer-term commitments, and if the land needed was not explicitly stated, they calculated using information about the types of activity as well as carbon removal data from UN climate experts.

They found that while over 550 hectares were earmarked for restoring degraded land and protecting primary forests, some 630 million hectares were estimated for carbon capture schemes, like tree planting.

"Land-based carbon removals have to be considered together with deep cuts in fossil fuel emissions, not as a replacement," said Anne Larson, of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry, who was a co-author of the report.

- 'Dangerous overreliance' -

Larson said governments might see tree planting as "easy, compared to other options", but cautioned that these projects can cause their own problems.

If there is no long-term management plan or if the species are not native, the trees can simply wither.

Tree plantations imposed on communities risk being "neglected, burned, cut down", she said.

Such expansion is also seen as incompatible with the rights of many indigenous peoples, who are increasingly being recognised as crucial custodians of nature, as the world faces a human-caused extinction crisis as well as climate change.

The Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, representing 35 million people living in forest territories in Asia, Africa and Latin America, on Tuesday said: "dangerous overreliance on land-based methods to capture carbon would gobble up much of our ancestral lands, which we desperately need for food production and nature protection".

"Simply put, we cannot plant trees to escape climate disaster, there is not enough land. Instead, we need to protect and restore existing forests and you can only do that with us," the alliance said.

UN climate scientists have said the world needs to slash carbon emissions 45 percent by 2030 in order to limit global heating to the more ambitious Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Melbourne University report said any tree planting schemes would be simply unable to meet the urgent challenge of reducing greenhouse gas pollution.

"Countries need to reduce their expected reliance on land-based carbon removal in favour of stepping up emissions reductions from all sectors and prioritising ecosystem-based approaches," the report said.

Related Links
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

'I was counting dead trees': Scientists join climate crisis fight
Munich, Germany (AFP) Oct 31, 2022
Lauranne Gateau did not train as a tropical ecologist only to end up sitting on a busy shopping street in her lab coat with one hand glued to the ground. But that was where the 34-year-old French scientist found herself after giving up her job last year to focus instead on campaigning for more action on climate change. "I don't want to be here, I'm afraid of the consequences... but we are desperate," she told AFP at a protest in Munich staged by a group known as Scientist Rebellion. "I was j ... read more