Save reefs, forests to fight climate change: Study

The Economic Times , Thursday, September 03, 2009
Correspondent : REUTERS
BERLIN: Governments can help combat climate change by investing more in natural areas including forests and coral reefs, a European study said on wednesday.

The study pointed out that nations have natural assets worth trillions of dollars which can help fight climate change.

"Natural systems represent one of the biggest untapped allies against the greatest challenge of this generation," said The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) paper.

Using these natural assets could help countries save on industrial schemes for carbon capture, it said.

The study is part of a global project, to be published next year, launched by Germany and the European Commission to examine the economics of biodiversity loss.

Scientists say preserving nature is crucial to the fight against climate change but warn extinctions are speeding up due to human activity. Research shows extinction rates are running at 1,000 times their natural pace and three species vanish every hour.

The study highlighted the dangers facing coral reefs which have risen due to a build up of greenhouse gases.

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations are above the levels at which they cause irreversible damage to coral reefs, said the paper, adding stabilising CO2 levels at about 16 percent above current levels could condemn reefs to extinction and rob millions of people of their livelihoods.

Coral reefs, which protect coastlines from the effects of global warming and are essential for some kinds of fish, are worth up to $170 billion a year, said the report.

"An estimated half a billion people depend on them for livelihoods and more than a quarter of marine fish species are dependent on coral reefs," said Pavan Sukhdev, the study leader.

The study also highlights the importance of funding for forests, which absorb an estimated 15 percent of global greenhouse emissions every year, making them a major natural mitigator of CO2 emissions.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) said: "Governments are considering multi-billion-dollar investments in carbon capture and storage at power stations. Perhaps it is time to subject this to a full cost benefit analysis to see whether the technological option matches nature's ability to capture and store carbon."

 
SOURCE : Thursday, September 03, 2009
 


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