Wetlands International emphasizes that climate analyses used by the UN’s Conference on Climate Change underestimates the impact that emissions released from peatlands could have on global warming. A few statistics that Wetlands cites:
- 8% of all global emissions comes from the logging and draining of peatlands in Southeast Asia.
- There is more carbon currently stored in the peatlands than in the atmosphere.
A primary reason that the peatlands are drained is to plant palm oil, commonly harvested for biofuel, and pulpwood. That leads to a second concern storming the international stage: careless biofuel production.
For a quick introduction into how unsustainably-harvested biofuels could magnify the climate crisis, check out Grist’s piece here and ClimateProgress on ‘deforestation diesel’.
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