Scientists and non-governmental organizations at the United Nations climate negotiations last week said the commonly accepted figures for greenhouse gas emssions from tropical deforestation are too high.
In light of a new analysis published earlier this week in Nature Geoscience, a group including experts on deforestation emissions, released the following statement:
"The new paper, other papers and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports published in the last few years lead us to conclude that the percentage of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is less than the commonly used figure of ‘about 20%.’ The best current estimate would be about 15% if peat degradation is included."
The change in the estimate is due to several factors, including increases in fossil fuel emissions, as well as revision of the estimates of deforestation emissions, due to new data and scientific analyses.
The change is not due to a decrease in deforestation since the 1990s, and in fact the analyses agree that global deforestation in the early 2000s has been similar to that in the 1990s. So, this new estimate is not a sign of progress.
This figure includes deforestation, forest degradation, and peat emissions from deforestation and degradation (including later decomposition and fires in peat from previously deforested areas).
Even considering the lower figure, these emissions are comparable to the emissions of all of the European Union, and are greater than those of all cars, trucks, planes, ships and trains worldwide.
Reducing tropical forest emissions remains a relatively cost-effective option to reduce emissions, the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a release, highlighting some lines from the new paper:
"…reducing fossil fuel emissions remains the key element for stabilizing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Nevertheless, efforts to mitigate emissions from tropical forests and peatlands, and maintain existing terrestrial carbon stocks, remain critical…."
Some of the scientists and organizations endorsing the statement include: Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, Frédéric Achard (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission), Ruth DeFries (Columbia University) and Douglas Morton (NASA).
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