Agriculture and forestry, weapons against greenhouse gas emissions

Livelihoods, union européenne, gaz à effet de serreA press release from the French Press Agency that shows awareness work by international institutions reporting to environmental issues, and encourages us further in our goals of reduction and offset

BRUSSELS – Agriculture and forestry will need to participate in the effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), welcomed Monday the European Commission by proposing to establish common rules for accounting for GHG emissions.

What we are proposing today is harmonized rules for accounting the emissions from forestry and agriculture. This is the first step to the inclusion of these sectors in efforts to reduce of the EU, said the Commissioner for Climate Connie Hedegaard.

The proposal includes the obligation for each EU member state to adopt action plans to limit or reduce emissions and maintain or increase their absorption, based on emission sources, in forests and soils throughout the EU.

The Commission proposal covers emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N20).

Forests and agricultural land cover over three quarters of the territory of the European Union and naturally contain large stocks of carbon that they prevent the release into the atmosphere, hence their importance in the fight against climate change.

 By increasing the stock of carbon sequestered by just 0.1 percentage points (for better management of forest or grasslands, for example), it would be possible to offset the annual atmospheric emissions of 100 million cars, the Commission explained.

 To date, the EU committed itself in 2020 to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gas emissions by 20% over 1990 levels.

 This effort should be increased to 40% in 2030 and 60% in 2040, according to the draft roadmap