A Swedish study summarizes the role of water in climate mitigation
Water’s potential to fight climate change is revealed by carbon-absorbing wetlands to untreated wastewater that emits methane.
The Swedish study explores the link and offers solutions that will help reduce emissions. Published by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, it identifies freshwater forests and wetlands (including freshwater bogs, marshes, marshes, lakes, streams, rivers and tidal wetlands) as a major carbon sink , and it is highlighted how these can function as sources or sinks of greenhouse gases, depending on their environmental status and their management. Over 30% of estimated global carbon emissions are sequestered in wetlands. The need to protect and restore them is therefore urgent.
An overview of global governance frameworks and national tools related to climate change, biodiversity, land, water and sustainable development is also provided. The various financing mechanisms for the realization of these objectives are also illustrated .
“Global water supply is the Earth’s bloodstream and the foundation of any successful mitigation action, as the Earth’s climate system and the water cycle are deeply intertwined,” said Malin Lundberg Ingemarsson, program manager at the Stockholm International Water Institute and lead author of the study. “Ours is the first-ever synthesis of current research on the role of water in climate mitigation.”
- The essential drop to Net-Zero: Unpacking freshwater’s role in climate change mitigation. (siwi.org)
