Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 8
Industrial, agriculture and food production are almost as big a driver of climate change as fossil fuels, the IPCC has said. Together they produce about 23 per cent of human-caused emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated in its Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use (SRCCL) released in Geneva today, adding that limiting climate change to well below 2°C cannot be achieved without the change in land use.
“The way we treat land can either help or harm the climate. Right now humans are driving deforestation, wiping out animals and plants at a staggering rate and speeding up the climate breakdown. Land is already under growing human pressure and climate change is adding to these pressures. At the same time, keeping global warming to well below 2°C can be achieved only by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors, including land and food,” it said.
If we don’t rapidly change course, we will not be able to deliver the Paris Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals, it warned.
The report will be a key scientific input for the forthcoming climate and environment negotiations — the Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP14) in New Delhi in September and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Santiago, Chile, in December. The intergovernmental body of the United Nations that aims to provide the world with scientific view of climate change stated deforestation and food production are often tied together as forests are cleared for agriculture, it says.
“The global food system contributes up to 37 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through raising cattle and other ruminants, cultivating rice, and applying fertiliser to pastures and rangelands. Over a quarter of food is wasted or lost, producing emissions during decomposition. Addressing food waste provides an opportunity to both lower emissions and benefit global food security.
“By driving deforestation and wiping out animals and plants at a staggering rate, humans are speeding up climate breakdown,” it says, outlining unique challenges climate change poses for the Earth’s land surface.
“Climate impacts on land are already severe. Heat waves and droughts have become more frequent and intense in some regions, and food security has already been undermined by affecting crop yields and livestock production, among other changes due to climate change,” it adds.
Land use key to curb emissions
- The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that efforts to limit global warming could be wrecked without sweeping changes to how we use the land
- The global food system contributes up to 37% of greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through raising cattle, cultivating rice, and applying fertiliser, points out the IPCC report
- It stresses adopting farming practices that work with nature, eliminating food waste, halting deforestation and restoring ecosystems to reduce emissions 45% by 2030
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