ANALYSES ON THE SPECIAL REPORTS RELEASED BY IPCC ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND

ANALYSES ON THE SPECIAL REPORTS RELEASED BY IPCC ON CLIMATE  CHANGE AND LAND

The special report on climate and land that focuses on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystem has outlined the necessary prerequisite in the mitigation and adaptation of climate change. This report is based on five standards;

v SSPs( desertification, land degradation and food security)

v World population.

v Income distribution

v Resource consumption

v Land use for year 2100

These reports show how the five standards are linked together. That is, how increase or decrease in one of this can affect the others.

DESERTIFICATION:

According to article 4.6, desertification amplifies global warming through the release of CO2 linked with the decrease in vegetation cover. Once vegetation cover is lost, soil is expose to land degradation of different forms such as; soil erosion, rainfall, flooding, drought frequency, severity in heat waves, dry land, wind, sea-rise and permafrost thaw. That’s to say, the more vegetation cover we lost, the more the adverse effects of climate change. From all indications, climate change changes with nature (land).

LAND DEGRADATION:

Policies that are outside the land and energy domains, such as on transport and environment, can also make a critical difference to tackling climate change. An overall focus on sustainability coupled with early action offers the best chances to tackle climate change. From section 1.5, about a quarter of the earth’s ice-free land area is subject to human-induced degradation. This corresponds with section 2; since the pre-industrial period, the global average temperature has raised nearly twice as much as the global average temperature. Soil erosion from agricultural fields is estimated to be currently 10 to 20 times (no tillage) to more than 100times (conventional tillage) higher than the soil formation rate. Climate change driven land degradation are higher in pathways with a higher population, increased land-use change, low adaptive capacity and other barriers to adaptation. In section A 1.5, in dry lands, climate change and desertification are projected to cause reductions in crop and livestock productivity, modify the plant species mix and reduce biodiversity. Population vulnerable to water stress, drought intensity and habitat degradation is projected to reach 178million people by 2050 at 1.5oC warming, increasing to 220 million people at 2oC warming, and 277million people at 3oC warming; this corresponds with section 5.7 that says changes in climate can amplify environmentally induced migration both within countries and across borders. With an implication in article 2.1 that projected increase in population and income combined with change in consumption patterns, resulting in increased demand for food and water in 2050 in all SSPs.

FOOD SECURITY:

Many wonder what the world food security will result to in the nearest future; are we going to bit Malthus theory of population that says that, population is increasing at a geometric progression and food is increasing at an arithmetic progression.  In the report, about one third of food produced is lost or wasted. Therefore, reducing inequalities improving incomes and ensuring equitable access to food so that some regions are not disadvantage are other ways to adapt to the negative effects of climate change. Increases in production are linked to consumption change. In section 2.8, climate change has already affected food security due to warming , changing precipitation patterns and greater frequency of some crops(e.g maize, wheat) has declined, while in many ever recent decades, climate change has resulted in lower animal growth rates and production in pastoral systems in Africa. Another risk related to food security was also outlined in article 6.4; risks related to food security are greater in pathways with lower income increased food demand, increased food prices resulting from competition for land, more limited trade and other challenge to adaptation. There is robust evidence that agricultural pests and diseases have already responded to climate change resulting in both increases and decreases of infestations. Based on indigenous and local knowledge, climate change is affecting food security in dry lands, particularly those in Africa, and high mountain regions of Asia and South America.

SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

1.   Specific agro-ecological conditions (practice relating to organic soils, peat lands and weather and those linked to freshwater resources)

2.   Applying immediate impacts which will include the conversion of high-carbon ecosystem such as peat-lands, wetlands, range lands, mangroves and forests.

3.   Applying multiple ecosystem services and functions but take more time to deliver include afforestation and restoration as well as the restoration of high-carbon ecosystem, agroforestry and the reclamation of degraded soil.

4.   Land based options that deliver carbon sequestration in soil vegetation such as afforestation; reforestation, agroforestry, soil carbon management on mineral soils or carbon storage in harvest wood products do not continue to sequester carbon indefinitely.

5.   Urban green infrastructure that can reduce climate risks in cities as strategy for reducing impacts.

6.   Policies promoting the target of land degradation and mitigation such as customary tenure, community mapping, redistribution, decentralization, co-management, regulation of rental markets can provide both security and flexibility response to climate change

7.   Mix policy (can strongly reduce the vulnerability and exposure of human and natural systems to climate change), than single policy approaches can deliver climate change.

8.     Policies that improved access to markets for inputs, outputs and financial services empowering women and indigenous peoples, enhancing local and community collective action; reforming subsidies and promoting an enabling trade system. Land restoration and rehabilitation efforts can be more effective when policies support local management of natural resource, while strengthening cooperation between actors and institutions, including at the international land.

9.   The effectiveness of decision-making and governance is enhanced by the involvement of local stakeholders (particularly those most vulnerable to climate change including indigenous people and local communities, women and the poor and marginalized in the selection evaluation, implementation and monitoring of policy instruments for land-based climate change adaptation and mitigation.

10.                     Achieving land degradation neutrality depends on the integration of multiple responses across local, regional and national scales, multiple sectors including agriculture, pasture, forest and water.

11.                     Also, sustainable land management practices require accounting for local environmental and socio-economic conditions. Sustainable land management in the context of climate change is typically advanced by involving all relevant stakeholders in identifying land-use pressures and impacts as well as preventing, reducing and restoring degraded land.

12.                     Financial transfers to women under the auspices of anti poverty program, spending on health, education, training and capacity building for women, subsidized credit and program dissemination through existing woman’s communication based organization.
CONCLUSION:

 From these reports, many wonder if our land is in a save, moderate or worse condition holding that the global emissions were not mentioned in the predictions and policies from the reports. But, the bottom line is that; actions are needed to prevent catastrophe in the nearest future because our land is sensitive to climatic conditions.

OLADOSU ADENIKE ( @the_ecofeminist)- on twitter