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Protection of soil carbon content as a climate change mitigation tool

Peter WehrheimHead of Unit, DG CLIMA

Unit A2: Climate finance and deforestation

Soil as Natural Capital: Agricultural Production, Soil Fertility and Farmers Economy, Brussels, 23 November 2011

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Green house gas cycles related to forestry, agriculture and soils

CH4 and N20 are part of EU‘s reduction commitment!

CO2 from soils is not!

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Agriculture GHG emissions by source (including CO2 from Energy, without CO2 from LULUCF )

Source: EEA

N fertilizers, manure

Eructed by ruminants (80% cows)

Storage, manipulation(50% pigs, 45% cows)

Fuel (tractors, machinery…), electricity…

Again: CH4 + N20 + are included CO2 from soils is not!

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From a climate point of view: Cows have a dual

personality!

Methane is accounted and part of the emission reduction commitment

(Effort Sharing Decision)!

Carbon removed through grassland (LULUCF) is NEITHER accounted NOR

part of the emission reduction commitment!

Ecology & Farming, 4 – 2011, IFOAM Magazine

5Factual information: carbon content in soils

Croplands Store 17 % of the global stock of carbon in terrestrial

ecosystems (WRI, 2011); net source of emissions

Management practices affect carbon stocks (esp. residue-, tillage-, fertilizer-, irrigation management, choice of crops and crop rotation)

Grasslands Store 34 % of global stock of carbon, predominantly in soil

(WRI, 2011)

Land Use Change (e.g. conversion to cropland, urbanization) turns them into major source of CO2 emissions

Carbon stock can be increased through sustainable grassland management (grazing, species, water/ fertilizer/ organic matter inputs, restoration)

6Factual information: carbon content in soils

CO2 emissions used from drained peat soils (in t CO2/ha,yr)

Peatlands Cover 3% of land area, but:

Store 30% of all global soil carbon

Total of 550 Gt CO2 (Parish et al., 2007)

Annual emission factors for cultivated organic soils: 5 t CO2/ha,y in cool temperate; 10 t CO2/ha,y in warm temperate and 20 t CO2/ha,y in tropics (IPCC, 2006)

Valuable carbon sink, but also major source of emissions when degraded

Source: Joosten (2010), Couwenberg (2009)

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-500000

-400000

-300000

-200000

-100000

0

100000

200000

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

Em

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s (

Gg

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Notation key: + Cropland management, ▲ Deforestation, – Grazing land management, ♦ Afforestation, and ■ Forest management. Unconnected symbols indicate reported data and connected symbols indicate model projections.

• Protect the existing sink

• Counter existing trends

• Increase the mitigation potential of the sector

Sin

ks (-

)

Em

issi

on (

+)Mitigation potential through Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry in the EU’s climate policy

Partly “natural”, but impact of policy drivers visible

Overall decline in sink by 13% btw 2005 and 2020

8Instruments in the Commission proposal for CAP post-2013 to protect/enhance soil

carbon content:Cross compliance theme “Soil and Carbon Stock”: 3 standards for

good and agricultural and environmental conditions (GAEC): Minimum soil cover

Maintenance of soil organic matter level including ban on burning arable stubble

Protection of wetland and carbon rich soils including a ban on first ploughing

Pillar I – Greening component - Payments for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment: Crop diversification, permanent grassland, ecological focus areas

Pillar II: Good options to address “hotspots” on soil management Multiple possibilities building on experience from Health Check

Agri-environment-climate measure, forest-environment and climate services

9Concluding comments

Soil carbon plays an important role in overall green house gas emissions

CO2 emissions from soil (Land and Land Use Change) currently not included in EU climate policy yet

Assessment report on how Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry can be included in EU climate policy in 2012

Future CAP will provide significant options to better protect soil carbon and thereby make cost-effective contributions to climate change protection

Improving soil carbon is a „win-win“option: Good for the climate and good for the farmer!

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QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION

Information about EU’s climate policy:http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/clima/mission/index_en.htm

Thank you for your attention!