At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change talks, being held in Bonn 1-12 June, there has been international support for greater recognition to be given to the importance of peatlands and their role in carbon storage.
Discussions around carbon emissions from land use have highlighted the significant carbon losses from damaged peatlands. Peatlands store up to twice as much carbon as the world’s forests. Damage from peatland burning and drainage is estimated to be responsible for almost one tenth of the global greenhouse gas emissions and for one third of the total emissions from land use.
The Bonn talks are part of the international climate change negotiations under the Kyoto Protocol. Amendments are being proposed which would include peatlands and peatland restoration in the emissions reduction commitments of the 37 industrialised countries for the period beyond 2012.
The details of how the emissions from peatlands will be accounted for are still to be worked out in the build up to the concluding talks in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Clifton Bain, Director of the Peatlands Programme, said:
“It is great news that the important role of peatlands is being recognised in these global climate change agreements.
“In the UK, damaged peatlands are a major source of emissions but no account is taken of the positive benefits of peatland restoration. International agreements to include peatlands in national emissions targets will help focus Government efforts on restoring peatland habitats.
“Peatland restoration reduces carbon emissions from the damaged peat carbon stores and brings wider water management and biodiversity benefits.”
ENDS
Media contact: Amanda Alabaster, Press Office, Scottish Wildlife Trust Tel: 0131 312 4744; 07703 322917, Email: aalabaster@swt.org.uk.
This press release is distributed by SWT on behalf of IUCN. SWT is a stakeholding partner in IUCN and is providing a press office function for this project
NOTES
1. The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) UK Peatlands Programme is a three year programme of work, funded by the Peter de Haan Charitable Trust, aimed at delivering peatland conservation across the UK. The programme is overseen by a coalition of environmental bodies made up of the John Muir Trust, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, RSPB, North Pennines AONB, Moors for the Future and the University of East London.
2. The UN Climate Change Talks Bonn – June 2009 (1 June to 12 June) constitute the second in a series of six major UN negotiating sessions this year, designed to culminate in an ambitious and effective international climate change deal in Copenhagen in December. See http://unfccc.int/2860.php
3. The Copenhagen outcome is to follow on the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires at the end of 2012. The international community decided in 2007 in Bali to conclude negotiations on the agreed outcome in Copenhagen
