Peatlands and the Emissions they Reap

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’.