A new report by the climate Council shows that The nature of our land use has a large impact on the climate. Conclusion: Without a radical Change in the food system is the loss of our health and livelihoods have been threatened.
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Intergovernmental panel on climate change u-turn, calls for the agriculture
The world population is growing and thus also the consumer. This Trend will intensify in the near future, but the resources of our planet are limited, and the floor is no exception.
The close connection between land use and its impact on climate change is the focus of the recent report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), published this Thursday.
It is the result of two years of work by more than 100 experts from 52 countries who had provided their Expertise to the IPCC on a voluntary basis. Before its publication the report was discussed at the beginning of August in Geneva, Switzerland with the governments of all IPCC member countries and adopted by consensus.
Look into a bleak future
In their study, the authors focus on the Problem that depleted soils and a weakened forests exacerbate climate change and this in turn affects the condition of forests and soils have a negative effect – a vicious circle.
IPCC Co-author, Alisher Mirzabaev directs the centre for development research, University of Bonn
It also makes your report of how our current food system contributes to climate change, and how strongly it is affected by its consequences.
The image that draw the researchers of the future, is bleak: Heats up our earth more than in the Paris climate agreement 2 degrees Celsius, it will turn very likely to Land, which was fertile, in the desert, thawing permafrost, significant damage to the infrastructure floors cause, as well as drought and extreme weather events threaten our food system.
“The Land and the floors need to be re-considered”
For all the justified fear of the Future: The report also shows how the worst of the damage could still prevent it. So the authors give about governments recommendations on how to make food systems sustainable and at the same time the needs of a growing population can be. A step in this direction: to take the immense pressure on the already depleted soil.
“I hope that this report will have an impact on how we view the Land and soils in the context of climate change. It should result in policy measures that promote sustainable land management and sustainable food systems,” says Alisher Mirzabaev, one of the co-authors of the IPCC report, in the DW-Interview.
Only a third of the planet is untouched
Soils and forests are perfect allies against climate change. They act as a carbon sinker, natural storage, to prevent CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Wrong Management but to a teammate when it comes to climate change, explains Barron Joseph Orr, a senior scientist for the combat of desertification at the United Nations.
Calculations 2015
Of the land area of the world, which is not covered with ice, are already used around 70% for the production of food, textiles, power and other concerns of mankind. In this use, a quarter of all global greenhouse gas emissions are generated almost, mainly as a result of deforestation for livestock and plants, but also by soil degradation.
Carbon countersink or emitters of CO2?
Ecosystems, such as grasslands and steppes are crucial for a stable climate, but often ignored, says Joao Campari, Director of the section of global nutrition at WWF International. These vast landscapes, which are largely free of trees and shrubs, act as a carbon sinker.
Here, cattle graze, with no trees were cut down, as it done in the rain forest. However, The Trend towards utilisation of that land for the livestock, however, also means that more CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere.
Moor landscape in Germany: Although Moore save a lot of CO2..
Also bogs and peatlands are important carbon countersink. Moore, make up only 3 percent of the earth’s surface. And since about 15 percent of all Moore destroyed the world already, or are damaged, the original CO-2-Eaters escape, in the meantime, 5 percent of the annual quantity of Greenhouse gases.
Direct consequences for the food supply
In their report, the researchers suggest that the declining crop yields due to climate change and food prices will rise accordingly. The global cereal prices could increase by 2050 by up to 23%, – stated in the IPCC report.
.. are already drained more than 90 percent of the German bogs and thus “dead”
In the United States, climate change could reduce Corn and soybean production in the next 60 years up to 80%, should increase in greenhouse gas emissions continue, says Campari and cited an earlier report by the US Department of agriculture. The Asian development Bank warns of decline in Crop yield in the case of basic foods. In the South of India for example, rice yields could decrease in the year 2030 by 5% and by 2050 more than 14%.
Declining nutrient content in crops
The increase in extreme weather events threatens to disrupt the food chain, so prices are likely to boost. One-third of the annually produced food is lost or wasted. Alone, such were produced but not consumed food overall, 8% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, higher CO2 concentrations affect the quality of the food, because they reduce the nutritional value, as researchers have found. This could also contribute to the loss of global food security. An estimated 821 million people are already hungry, and 1.5 billion people lack essential micronutrients, such as iron or zinc in your food.
There are solutions
The recent report of the IPCC is not only a warning but also a call to Action. And a reminder that there is still hope. “Solutions are already available, often it is just a question to extend their field of application,” says co-author Mirzabaev. “We need to stop deforestation and new Land to convert, to grow food,” urges WWF-employees Campari.
Although the solutions from Region to Region are different in Detail, they overlap broadly in their approach. The provides for the optimization of existing land for food production and the Re-fertilization of the world’s 2 billion hectares of already depleted soils.
Glyphosate-adjusted farmland in Brandenburg: monocultures Deplete the soil and provide soil drifts
The report also includes measures by which soils absorb more carbon, and prevent soil erosion. A step in the process, the replacement of mono-crops by the cultivation of different crops on the same area. Healthier soils produce more, are less prone to extreme weather conditions and so lead to a more stable food supply.
The policy needs to get started
Without the involvement of the political decision-makers, but such a change is not possible, the experts emphasize. The policy must leave the stage of promises, and finally, concrete steps to take – on the basis of the recommendations of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. In addition, there is a need for cross-cutting measures covering all affected areas, from Finance to healthcare.
“Currently, the economy and the environment are seen in a kind of competition with each other, but in the 21st century. Century, we have no more time for this point of view,” says Joao Campari.
Barron Joseph Orr works at the United Nations in Bonn, Germany
Also UN-scientist, Orr emphasises the importance of a holistic approach in times of climate change. “How can we manage to maximize the biodiversity, without this affecting the economic development?” An idea about whether to direct the growth of towns and cities on already degraded soils, rather than sacrifice valuable agricultural land for it.
Intangible benefits compensate
The report from the IPCC calls on the political decision-makers, possible risks that may arise due to a transition to sustainable economies by means of appropriate measures to mitigate and to create incentives for sustainable land use.
Sustainable economies bring many benefits, such as CO2 sequestration through afforestation. “But these intangible ecosystem services can not be sold on the market,” says Mirzabaev. Measures such as payments for ecosystem services could promote sustainable business practices.
Less Food Waste
And also the consumer can do something. While it is not always easy to choose the right path. If you eat meat, have the impact on the climate and the soils. If you stop eating meat but Avocados to buy, have this impact, such as the high water consumption in the production countries.
Less food waste would be important for the climate
“There is no silver bullet,” says Campari. Nevertheless, it would be a good first step to reduce the amount of food that ends up in the waste bucket. A greater awareness of what we consume and how we consume it, for example in the Form of a more diverse diet, would also make a difference: 75% of the world’s food comes from only 12 plants and five animal species. “Consumers must be made aware that what they eat is not born on a plate. Behind this work, it comes to natural resources,” adds Joao Campari.
“We must act!”
According to Joseph Orr is a small push to strengthen the consumer aware that it would not hurt one. Simple ways to track the impact of food production on the planet, or better advice from consumers could promote a more sustainable behaviour. In the long term, this could lead to healthier soil and a healthier climate.
In any case, the recent report of the IPCC should be no reason to give up, but to look forward, he adds. One could talk forever about what in the world is wrong. “But at the Moment, we must move, we must act.”
The most important facts of the IPCC report in a nutshell
- The land use accounts for about 23% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The CO2 emissions originate primarily from the clearing of forests for new agricultural land and methane emissions from cattle and rice fields.
- If emissions continue to rise at the current pace, it will jeopardise the food security greatly by factors such as the interruption of the food chain as a result of extreme weather events, a decline in crop yield and a poorer nutrient content in the ingredients.
- In a scenario with a warming of 1.5 degrees will suffer in 2050 expected to be 178 million people under water shortage and desertification. In a 2-degree-warming scenario, these number in the same period, rising to 220 million people worldwide.
- If global efforts lead to a more sustainable use of land, could floors and trees play a crucial role in reducing the consequences of climate change.