UNFCCC Getting Reference Levels and MRV Right for Organic Soils

Panama, 3 October 2011

Susanna Tol, Wetlands International

Hans Joosten, Greifswald University / IMCG

Getting Reference Levels and MRV Right for

Organic Soils

Peatlandsecosystems where - under conditions of permanent water

saturation - dead and decaying plant material has accumulated to form a thick organic soil layer

2

3Mitigation hotspots 3

Key role in global climate regulation:

• The most concentrated and most important reservoirs of terrestrial carbon: 550 Gton C.

• 2 Gton CO2 /year from drained peatland• 2 Gton CO2 /year from drained peatland

• From only 50 million ha = 0.3% of world land area

High value biodiversity & environmental services

���� HOTSPOTS FOR REDD AND NAMA’S

In which countries? 4

Russia: 160 Mt/CO2/yr

Finland: 67 Mt/CO2/yr

Germany : 32 Mt/CO2/yr

China:77 Mt/CO2/yr

US:67 Mt/CO2/yr

Belarus : 41 Mt/CO2/yr

Poland : 24 Mt/CO2/yr

Very large stocks in

Canada and Alaska

Mongolia:45

Mt/CO2/yr

Sub-Sahara Africa: peat CO2 = 25% of all its

fossil fuel CO2

SE Asia: peat CO2

= 70%of all its fossil

fuel CO2

Brazil:12 Mt/CO2/yr

Find stocks and emissions from all countries at www.wetlands.org/peatco2

Large stocks in South America,

e.g. Peru

Mt/CO2/yr

Reference levels 5

• After clearing and draining, emissions from peatland continue for decades, or even centuries

• To be reported for all these years

� Consequences for recording progress towards � Consequences for recording progress towards meeting emission reduction targets

Reference levels 6 6

A constant rate of deforestationkeeps the annual GHG emissionsconstant because deforesting an area implies a once-off emission.

A constant rate of peatland drainageincreases annual GHG emissionsbecause the emissions from newly drained peatland add to those of

already drained peatland.

Reference levels 7

Reference levels 8

Reference levels 9

Conclusion

Only way to reduce emissions from peatlands is:

1. Prevent any further peatland degradation in order to maintain annual GHG emissions from peatland on the status quo level;

Consequences for REDD+ 10

and simultaneously

2. Rewet already degraded and drained peatlands in order to reduce annual emissions from peatland.

Reasons for preventing new drainage:

• Emissions from new drainage come on top of ongoing emissions from already drained areas

• Not all wetlands can be restored and not all

Consequences for REDD+ 11

• Not all wetlands can be restored and not all emissions can be stopped at all times from rewetting. � Rewetting can not 1:1 compensate for drainage.

• The amount of peatlands that need to be rewetted to compensate emissions from new drainage is not realistic

���� Peatlands should become NO -GO Zones

1. Preventing further peatland degradation:

• No more conversion: undisturbed peatlands must become NO GO ZONES

• Existing concessions must be revoked and shift to already degraded mineral soils

Priorities for achieving reduction targets 12

already degraded mineral soils

• Supply chains must exclude products from drained peatlands

2. Rewetting drained peatlands:

• Restore peat soils where possible

• Paludicultures for severely degraded soils

Peatland MRV

• Peatlands: complex and different from other ecosystems

� Develop sophisticated MRV methodologies?

• Peatland emissions increase rapidly when conversion and degradation proceedsconversion and degradation proceeds

� Stop radically � NO GO!

� Make rapidly a practical MRV system. � Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

• Monitoring a peat swamp moratorium is simple:

• In peatlands, the interdependency between vegetation, peat and water is very tight

Peatland MRV

� Deterioration of any of these components leads to degradation and to increased emissions

� Each component can be used as an indicator for the condition of the entire system

• Emissions increase by:– removing (substantial) tree biomass– increasing drainage and subsequent peat

oxidation– fire

Peatland MRV

� Monitor changes in crown structure/cover and drainage infrastructure

• Simple monitoring can be based on

– peat soil maps: high priority!!– wall-to-wall remote sensing of land use/cover

using high-resolution satellite imagery – simple conservative algorithms for assessing

Peatland MRV

– simple conservative algorithms for assessing emission effects of land use change, and

– default emission factors for the identified types of land use/cover (cf. new literature, IPCC 2013 revision)

• This would be sufficient to guard the current peatswamp emission situation.

peat soil maps: high priority!!

wall-to-wall remote sensing

Peatland MRV

default emission factors for land use/cover types

• Refine on district/project level:

• use water level and subsidence to assess emission reductions from rewetting/reforestation.

Peatland MRV

• Further knowledge will refine the monitoring

Further knowledge will refine the monitoring

Monitor all peatland as part of REDD+, because they are intensively interlinked:

– primary peat swamp forests, – degraded peat swamp forests,

Peatland MRV

– degraded peat swamp forests, – secondary peat swamp forests, – deforested peatland areas, – agricultural areas on peat, – plantations on peat and – abandoned agricultural areas on peat.

Damani, Panama, March 2011

Damani, Panama, May 2011

Damani, Panama, June 2011

Damani, Panama, Sept. 2011

Peatlad MRV

• Peatland conversion is extremely rapid and largely irreversible

• Peatland conversion leads to persistent and increasing emissions

Peatland MRV

� Peatlands NO GOs for further conversion� Include all peatland in REDD+ monitoring� Rapidly implement a simple and practical MRV

system.

Don’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good!

THANK YOU More information:www.wetlands.org/peatclimate

www.imcg.net

22 Oktober 1997

Rewetting in IndonesiaReforestation in Indonesia