"If the Federal Council is now considering abolishing the program — or at least withdrawing the federal contribution — it is mainly because of the windfall effects it generates," explains Philippe Thalmann, professor of environmental economics at EPFL.
"Today, 70% of our results come from abroad, while 70% of our investments are made in our historic service territory in Switzerland," says Cédric Christmann, Chief Executive Officer of Primeo Energie.
How to adapt land areas to mitigate the human impact on the planet
In the years to come, humanity will have to rethink the way it manages soils. Naturally, this implies better preservation of remaining natural ecosystems, but also rethinking how it exploits those already conquered.
In a study published in Global Change Biology, researchers Evelyn M. Beaury, Jeffrey Smith and Jonathan M. Levine analyzed 19 different strategies for mitigating our footprint on the planet's available land.
In a study published in "Global Change Biology", researchers Evelyn M. Beaury, Jeffrey Smith and Jonathan M. Levine analyzed 19 different strategies to mitigate our footprint on the planet's available lands. These strategies include, for example, smarter management of agricultural and forest lands, the restoration and preservation of certain ecosystems, or the conversion of large areas of land to other uses.
"Among the strategies we studied are the protection and restoration of forest habitats, wetlands, peatlands and grasslands; various climate-smart management approaches for croplands and forests (including biomass pyrolysis or biochar, as well as silvopasture); bioenergy cultivation with carbon capture and storage, and afforestation," explains Evelyn M. Beaury to "Carbon Brief".
For their research, the three scientists relied on the full set of geographic and biophysical data we have for the Earth. They estimated that 8.56 billion hectares are theoretically suitable for this exercise, or about 57% of the world's land surface. This figure includes 5.20 billion hectares for which only one of the studied strategies is suitable, generally the one that consists of maintaining the current ecosystem and the carbon it stores. For the remaining 3.36 billion hectares, more than one solution would be possible.
Key points of this study in a few highlights.
1️⃣
Sufficient land: The first piece of positive news to draw from this study is that the planet would have enough space to limit warming below the targeted 2 degrees. According to estimates made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), between 150 and 800 million hectares would be needed for agriculture and between 600 and 1,500 million hectares for increasing forest cover. Their mapping of the planet, however, shows about 1,300 million hectares for global agriculture and 1,600 million hectares that could be reforested. "But as our analysis shows, overlaps within these areas clearly indicate that society will face choices to reduce the pressure it places on these territories," the study reads.
Number of land-based mitigation strategies suitable in a given area, delineated by the type of current land cover. Land cover types include croplands, wetlands and peatlands, grasslands (including shrubs and savannas) and planted pastures, forests (including natural forests, managed forests and plantations) and mosaic vegetation. Darker colors indicate that a larger number of strategies overlap in this region, and that they may be compatible and/or conflicting strategies.
2️⃣
Crucial choices: According to the study's authors, nearly 40% of lands would be suitable for more than one mitigation strategy. Unfortunately, only a small portion of these areas could combine multiple solutions to, for example, store CO₂. In some cases, spreading crushed silicate rocks on farms or other arable lands would accelerate natural chemical processes and remove carbon from the atmosphere, while improving crop yields.
These possibilities are, however, limited, and the majority of areas would mainly face contradictory solutions and still-uncertain outcomes. The scientists are careful not to make any recommendation, indicating that further research is needed to map local constraints and management costs for each area. This would ensure that the choice among mitigation strategies aligns local needs with national and global climate change objectives.
3️⃣
Conflict zones: Take the case of large parts of the United States, Europe and China: they are as suitable for ecosystem restoration as for climate-smart agriculture. "In these regions, societies face a choice between restoring grasslands, forests and wetlands, or continuing to manage the lands for agriculture, where climate-smart practices could still be implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester more carbon," explains Evelyn M. Beaury.
4️⃣
Preserving the existing: Given that a majority of areas have only a single mitigation strategy, possibilities remain limited. The study's authors remind us that any change in these regions could lead to significant new sources of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. "Protecting existing ecosystems should be an absolute priority for mitigating climate change," they stress.
"Maintaining the carbon stored in currently unprotected ecosystems represents more than 3 billion hectares of land that we estimate suitable for land-based climate change mitigation, or about 20% of the planet's land surface," specifies Evelyn M. Beaury.
Reducing human pressure on soils will necessarily require a certain political courage, given that it will involve adapting land-use policy according to these climate issues. At this stage, due to a lack of sufficient funding and public incentives, the pace unfortunately remains insufficient to meet the goals set in Paris by the international community.
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"If the Federal Council is now considering abolishing the program — or at least withdrawing the federal contribution — it is mainly because of the windfall effects it generates," explains Philippe Thalmann, professor of environmental economics at EPFL.
"Today, 70% of our results come from abroad, while 70% of our investments are made in our historic service territory in Switzerland," says Cédric Christmann, Chief Executive Officer of Primeo Energie.
