Peatland in national greenhouse gas inventory - a basis for better peatland management

Transcription

1 Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Peatland in national greenhouse gas inventory - a basis for better peatland management GLOBAL PEATLAND AND PEAT INDUSTRY SUMMIT in ROTTERDAM 10 September 2018 Kiyoto Tanabe Co-Chair, IPCC Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC TFI) Principal Researcher, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

2 Peatlands: Critical role in combatting climate change Undisturbed waterlogged peatlands (organic soils) store a large amount of carbon and act as small net sinks. Drainage of peatlands for agriculture and forestry results in a rapid increase in decomposition rates, leading to increased emissions of CO 2, and N 2 O, and vulnerability to further GHG emissions through fire. The FAO emissions database estimates globally 250,000 km 2 of drained organic soils under cropland and grassland, with total GHG emissions of 0.9 GtCO 2 eq / year in Chapter 11, Working Group III Contribution to the IPCC AR5

3 Peatlands: Critical role in combatting climate change Peatland management can work as important mitigation activities that can reduce climate forcing. Protection of peatland forest, reduction of wildfires Rewetting peatlands drained for agriculture Soil carbon restoration on peatlands; and avoiding net soil carbon emissions using improved land management Chapter 11, Working Group III Contribution to the IPCC AR5 However, the importance of peatland management in climate policy was not recognized very well in the first two decades of UNFCCC. Peatland was not well covered in national GHG inventories.

4 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory National GHG inventory is a collection of estimates of: Anthropogenic emissions/removals of Greenhouse Gases National emissions (within national territory and offshore areas over which the country has jurisdiction) Annual emissions Basis for scientific understanding of climate change Basis for policy making To monitor progress towards policy goals To help develop cost-effective policy /etc Under the UNFCCC, all Parties are obliged to regularly submit their national GHG inventories, using the internationally-agreed guidelines published by IPCC. IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

5

6 UNFCCC and IPCC Inventory Guidelines New Supplementary Guidance in Non-Annex I Parties are encouraged to use GPGs IPCC Guidelines Currently, Non Annex I Parties use these under the UNFCCC. Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines GPG2000 (non-lulucf) GPG2003 (LULUCF) Annex I Parties must use from IPCC Guidelines Actually, 2006 Guidelines are being used by more and more Non-Annex I Parties. Revision/Update by the IPCC

7 Peatland in IPCC Inventory Guidelines (- 2006) Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines (1996) Peat soils were referred to, but no detailed methodological guidance was provided specifically on estimation of GHG emissions/removals in peatland. Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF (2003) Detailed methodological guidance relevant to peatland was provided only on estimation of CO 2 emissions associated with peat extraction IPCC Guidelines (2006) In addition to CO 2 emissions, detailed methodological guidance was added also on N 2 O emissions from peatlands cleared and drained for production of peat for energy, horticultural and other uses. However, guidance was still incomplete about peatland

8 Need for more guidance on peatland IPCC Expert Meeting held in October 2010 concluded: Since the 2006 IPCC Guidelines were completed much new scientific information is now available about various wetlands that enable emissions and removals to be estimated from wetland restoration and rewetting especially for peat lands. The meeting recommended that the IPCC provide additional methodological guidelines for the rewetting and restoration of peat land; emissions from fires, ditches and waterborne carbon; and constructed wetlands for waste water disposal, to fill gaps in the existing guidelines.

9 Need for more guidance on peatland Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) of the UNFCCC at its 33rd session, held in December 2010 in Cancun invited the IPCC: to undertake further methodological work on wetlands, focusing on the rewetting and restoration of peatland, with a view to filling in the gaps in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories in these areas and to complete this work for the thirty-ninth session of the SBSTA.

10 New guidance Wetlands Supplement The IPCC initiated the work in April 2011 to respond to the recommendation from the expert meeting and the invitation from SBSTA. A new IPCC Report was produced to provide methods for estimating anthropogenic emissions and removals of GHGs from wetlands and drained soils, which are supplementary to those contained in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. This report titled 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands (Wetlands Supplement) was adopted and accepted by IPCC at its 37 th Session in Georgia in October 2013.

11 New guidance Wetlands Supplement Peatlands are included along with organic soils and both drainage and rewetting are covered. Updated emission factors and methods are provided for both drained and rewetted organic soils including for offsite CO 2 emissions via waterborne carbon losses. Guidance on CH 4 emissions from rewetting of organic soils, ditches on drained inland organic soils and CO 2, CH 4 and CO emissions from peat fires are also provided.

12

13 More and more attention under UNFCCC The importance of peatland management in climate policy has been attracting more and more attention in recent years. Countries, if not all, have started using the IPCC Wetlands Supplement, on a voluntary basis although it is not yet obligatory under the UNFCCC. Under the Kyoto Protocol, wetland drainage and rewetting has been added in the GHG accounting scheme for the second commitment period ( ). It was not included in the first commitment period ( ). The Parties need to use the IPCC Wetlands Supplement as well as another IPCC Report 2013 Revised Supplementary Methods and Good Practice Guidance Arising from the Kyoto Protocol. Although this has not taken effect, since the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol has not yet entered into force

14 For the future Thus, peatland is becoming as one of the key elements in national GHG inventories. Good peatland management is essential to climate mitigation. Reliable and high-quality estimates of emissions from and removals by peatland in national GHG inventories will help countries to plan and carry out better peatland management, which will eventually enable successful implementation of the Paris Agreement as well as achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

15 Thank you! IPCC is currently developing a new Methodology Report titled 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. For details, please visit: