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Climate report sees forestry, ag as emission solution
A new report from a UN Climate Panel finds agriculture and other land-use sectors offer significant near-term mitigation potential globally.
During a news conference Monday, panel co-chair Diana Ürge-Vorsatz says 20 to 30 percent of global reduction goals could be met through the sectors by 2050.
“Agriculture, forestry, and other land use can provide large-scale emissions reductions and remove and store carbon dioxide at scale,” she says.
The panel says forests and other natural ecosystems offer the most potential to reduce emissions, followed by agriculture.
The report points to using cropland and grasslands to manage carbon in the soil, along with supporting sustainable diets, reducing food waste, and increasing bioenergy and biobased product production as ways to reduce emissions.
However, Ürge-Vorsatz says land cannot compensate for delayed emissions reductions in other sectors like energy and transportation.