We all know that decarbonization is the most fundamental step we need to take to limit the increase in global warming and its impacts. The only way to do this is to achieve a permanent and steady reduction in global emissions. If we fail to achieve this, we will have to deal with much more challenging conditions for adaptation. Given the existence of sectors that are difficult to decarbonize and the differences in economies and infrastructures from country to country, it is clear how challenging the issue of sustained emissions reductions is. As a result, if we fail to make major progress in reducing emissions, the notoriously “bad” practices of geoengineering, meteorology and intervention in climate events will become commonplace.

We need to ask ourselves whether we have done everything we can before we turn to solutions that are so costly and require tampering with the balance of nature. In fact, instead of seeing the mission of producing clean energy that we attribute to new technologies and the innovations to be implemented in terms of adaptation as a miracle, the opportunities provided by nature within its own cycles are important keys in combating the climate crisis. According to the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, as a natural consequence of the carbon cycle, oceans and land (vegetation, peatlands, marshes) sequester 56% of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Only by protecting and increasing carbon sinks can this ratio be increased and a significant progress can be made in the fight against climate change.

The decisions taken at COP26 on halting deforestation and the commitment to strengthen efforts to protect forests in countries where most of the world's forests are located were very important in this respect. Preventing the clearing of agricultural land, preventing illegal logging and reforestation of deforested areas are important steps to at least protect existing carbon sinks. While the irony of talking about deforestation and illegal logging continues, we can also expect developments in the coming years on the reforestation of some pastures and lands, and the “reclamation” of peatlands and swampy areas. Although this sounds optimistic, practices such as re-watering wetlands and peatlands in the Netherlands and Germany, and monitoring the increase in the amount of carbon in the soil content of these lands have already been implemented[i].

Combating climate change and limiting global warming to 1.5 C is also vital for oceans and seas, which are the most important carbon sinks. Warming of the atmosphere, and therefore the oceans, could accelerate the release of carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans, causing the oceans to change from being a carbon sink to a net carbon source. Considering the vastness of the oceans and the amount of carbon dioxide they absorb, this is considered to be a situation that could lead to a cascade of disasters. While it is relatively possible to protect the warming oceans from pollution, we can only restore their ability to act as a sink if we stop and reverse global warming. This requires improving the quality of terrestrial carbon sinks, stopping deforestation and restoring areas used for economic activities, not to mention carbon capture and storage technologies.

75% of the Earth's area not covered by glaciers has been altered by human activities, and our actions in these areas are decisive for their restoration as carbon sinks[ii]. This situation, which appears as a major crisis on one side of the coin, can make a great contribution to burying global emissions in the ground if climate-friendly agriculture and land use practices are put into practice. At this point, practices that will increase the amount of organic matter in agricultural lands that are exposed to industrial practices with the “Green Revolution” and whose organic matter ratio is gradually decreasing, and animal husbandry practices based on the management of meadows and pastures instead of industrial animal husbandry are becoming more prominent and important day by day.

In a holistic approach, it is important to restore carbon sinks to their previous characteristics and to consider restoration and climate-friendly production areas in areas where economic activities continue. These practices are also a chance to reduce the areas without human intervention for threatened biodiversity, and to shift production areas to a paradigm that creates space for wildlife. Conservation, wildlife development and rewilding practices in areas that are the last strongholds of wildlife and under the control of official administrations are becoming more and more prominent in order to increase the carbon absorption capacity of protected areas. The private sector, “enthusiastic” entrepreneurs and public institutions - or in collaboration with each other - will develop projects in different areas that hold greater opportunities and promise than “mega-projects” in which technology plays a central role.

[i] https://www.dw.com/tr/alman-h%C3%BCk%C3%BCmetinden-turbal%C4%B1klar%C4%B1-koruma-stratejisi/a-63728408

[ii] Living Planet Report, Bending the Curve of Biodiversity Loss, WWF,2020

Murat Unal / 04.01.2023