A new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presents the evidence on how the different uses of land — forests, agriculture, urbanisation — are affecting and getting affected by climate change.
About:
The report’s full name is Climate Change and Land, an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.
It is one of three special reports that the IPCC is preparing during the current Sixth Assessment Report cycle.
This is the first time that the IPCC has focused its attention solely on the land sector.
Key Findings:
Land is a critical resource: Agriculture, forestry and other types of land use account for 23% of human greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time natural land processes absorb carbon dioxide equivalent to almost a third of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industry.
Desertification and land degradation: When land is degraded, it becomes less productive, restricting what can be grown and reducing the soil’s ability to absorb carbon. This exacerbates climate change, while climate change in turn exacerbates land degradation in many ways.
Food Security: Climate change is affecting all four pillars of food security: availability (yield and production), access (prices and ability to obtain food), utilization (nutrition and cooking), and stability (disruptions to availability).
Land and climate change responses: Focus should be more sustainable land use, reducing over-consumption and waste of food, eliminating the clearing and burning of forests, preventing over-harvesting of fuelwood, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thus helping to address land related climate change issues.
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