New plan for carbon-neutral land sector

Global agriculture and forestry could be carbon-neutral by 2040 and contribute 30% to the Paris targets of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. This can be done through the conservation and planting of forests, sustainable use of wood, reducing food wastage and sustainable intensification of agriculture. This concludes an international team of researchers in a new study published in Nature Climate Change.

Half of the measures in the report are aimed at reducing emissions and the other half at stimulating carbon uptake. Below are a number of measures that, according to the researchers, should be given priority:

- Reduction of deforestation and reclamation of peatlands;
- Restoration of forests, dried-up peatlands and mangroves;
- Improved forest management, sustainable use of wood and stimulation of bioenergy;
- Encouraging carbon uptake by the agricultural sector;
- Reducing food wastage by consumers in developed and emerging countries, reducing food wastage in the production process and, where possible, the transition to vegetarian diets in developed and emerging countries;
- Reducing farm animal emissions, fertiliser storage and use, use and production of fertilisers and rice production through better management.

Carbon storage in 2050

The study used climate models and looked at 24 land uses with the highest potential for climate mitigation and with benefits for the sector, society and the environment.

Click here for the report: Contribution of the land sector to a 1.5°C world