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COP 23 DAY 12 Pitt Lands

This discussion has members from the UNFCCC and she talks about how to preserve Peatlands forest. Scientists have discovered the world’s largest tropical Peatlands in the remote Congo swamps, estimated to store the equivalent of three years’ worth of the world’s total fossil fuel emissions.

The main issue is about how to conserve the Peatlands. Representing the Democratic republic of Congo the speaker talks about how the Congo has fossil oil and how the UNFCCC is the leader with regards to anything to do with the environment. The Peatlands are important to reserve for the people that use it to live. The forest is an entire ecosystem that has many animals that rely upon it. However the carbon rich nature of the Peatlands is what’s in demand “Carbon-rich Peatlands could store three years’ worth of world’s total fossil fuel emissions, say scientists” (Georgia brown, the guardian) and so for environmentalists it’s like a gold mine.

How will the Peatlands be conserved in the future we will see, with a lot of climate injustice still prevalent it won’t be an easy task but authorities and government are waking up to the importance of the lands. With such carbon rich lands it is essential that we do not let it dry out “If Peatlands dry out, either through changes in land use such as drainage for agriculture or reduced rainfall, further decomposition resumes, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere” (Georgia Brown, the guardian) and obviously the last thing the earth needs is more co2 released into the atmosphere.

It is essential the Congolese Peatlands remain untouched because ““Peatlands are only a resource in the fight against climate change when are left intact, and so maintaining large stores of carbon in undisturbed Peatlands should be a priority.” (Professor Simon Lewis university of Leeds). We know what’s right but will it happen.

By Alex Mitchison

Links: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/11/worlds-largest-peatland-vast-carbon-storage-capacity-found-congo

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