Human activities have led to the degrading of soils, expanded deserts, felled forests, driven out wildlife, and drained peatlands, they will say. In the process, land has been turned from an asset that combats climate change into a major source of carbon. The scientists will say this land abuse must be stopped to avoid catastrophic climate heating. Uncultivated land covered with vegetation protects us from overheating because the plants absorb the warming gas CO2 from the air and fix it in the soil.
But the scientists meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, will say the way we farm and grow timber often actually increases emissions of carbon dioxide. Between a quarter and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions are now estimated to come from land use. The scientists will warn of a battle for land between multiple competing demands: biofuels, plant material for plastics and fibres, timber, wildlife, paper and pulp - and food for a growing population.
Their report will say we need to make hard choices about how we use the world’s soil. And it will offer another warning that our hunger for red meat is putting huge stress on the land to produce animal feed, as well as contributing to half of the world’s emissions of methane - another greenhouse gas.
