Better land management will help cope with climate change

On August 8, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the Special Report on Climate Change (CC) and Land (SRCCL) adopted by the governments of 195 countries in Geneva, Switzerland.

This is an important scientific document for environmental and climate change negotiations, such as the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations (UN) Convention to Combat Desertification (COP14) in September and the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) in December.

The report points out that better land management can help tackle climate change, but it is not the only solution. To keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius as agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement, greenhouse gas emissions reductions must come from all sectors.

Land must remain productive to ensure food security as population increases and the negative impacts of climate change on crops increase. Bioenergy must be managed carefully to avoid risks to food security, biodiversity and land degradation.

1. Land is an important resource

The climate change and land report shows that the world will be best prepared to deal with climate change when it has an overall focus on sustainability.

“Land plays a critical role in the climate system,” said Jim Skea, co-chair of IPCC Working Group III. “Agriculture, forestry and other land uses account for 23% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, natural land processes absorb CO2 equivalent to about a third of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry.”

The IPCC report affirms that sustainable management of land resources can help address climate change.

“Land can feed the world in a changing climate system and provide biomass for renewable energy. But we need to act early and with vision in many areas, including the conservation and restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity,” said Hans-Otto Portner, co-chair of IPCC Working Group II.

2. Desertification and land degradation aggravate climate change

Degraded land becomes infertile, making it difficult to grow crops and reducing the soil’s ability to absorb carbon. This will exacerbate climate change, while climate change also exacerbates land degradation in other ways.

“In the future, with more intense rainfall, the risk of soil erosion in farmlands will increase, and sustainable land management is a way to protect communities from the harmful effects of erosion and landslides. However, there are limitations to implementation, so in some cases degradation is inevitable,” said Kiyoto Tanabe, co-chair of the national greenhouse gas inventory working group.

Nearly 500 million people currently live in desertified areas worldwide. Desertified areas and drylands are more vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events such as droughts, heat waves, dust storms, and more, as populations grow.

The report outlines options for addressing land degradation and preventing or adapting to climate change, and also assesses the potential impacts of different levels of global warming.

“Risks are rising in dry regions from water shortages, destructive fires, permafrost degradation and food system instability,” said IPCC Working Group I co-chair Valerie Masson-Delmotte.

3. Food security

Collaborative efforts to address climate change can contribute to improving land, food security, nutrition and helping to end hunger.

The report notes that about one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted, while reducing this loss and waste would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy security.

“Balanced diets that include plant foods such as coarse grains, fruits, vegetables, and animal foods produced sustainably in low-greenhouse gas emission systems present significant opportunities for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change,” said IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair Debra Roberts.

Risk management can increase community resilience to extreme events that impact food systems. This could be through dietary changes or ensuring a variety of crops to prevent further soil degradation and increase resilience to extreme or changing weather.

Other ways to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change include building early warning systems, reducing inequality, improving incomes, or ensuring equitable access to food so that some areas of land that cannot provide adequate food are not disadvantaged.

A holistic focus on sustainability coupled with early action promises to offer the best opportunities to tackle climate change, slow population growth, reduce inequality, improve nutrition and reduce food waste.

This could allow for a more resilient food system and make more land available for bioenergy, while still protecting forests and natural ecosystems.

4. Policies to respond to land and climate change

The IPCC stresses that policies beyond land and energy, such as transport or the environment, can also make a significant difference in tackling climate change. However, countries need to act early to save big money.

“We are using technologies and good practices, but they need to be scaled up and used in other appropriate places where they are not currently being used.

“There is real potential here through more sustainable land use, reducing overconsumption and food waste, eliminating deforestation and forest fires, preventing excessive logging for fuelwood and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to help address land-related climate change issues,” said IPCC Working Group I Co-Chair Panmao Zhai.