How can the UK protect and increase its standing stock of organic carbon: trees, peat, soil, and salt marshes? How can these habitats most efficiently be distributed spatially given limited land and other needs (for example urban space, food production, recreation)? How can increases in carbon stocks be achieved while maximising co-benefits such as biodiversity, clean water, and nutrient balance?
Background
To limit future warming requires rapid reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and achieving net zero by 2050, as required by UK legislation. Climate mitigation is led in government by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). But Defra is responsible for efforts to reduce GHG emissions from four sectors: agriculture, waste and wastewater, land-use, and fluorinated gases (F-gases). Defra also has responsibility to promote forestry, which acts as a carbon sink. Together, the four Defra sectors represent 15% of the total net UK GHGs, with agriculture being the biggest contributor (about 10% of UK emissions).
Defra has research interests in reduction of emissions, the removal of GHG from the atmosphere, and in understanding the impacts of mitigation activities on other environmental outcomes.
Next steps
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Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Topics
Related UKRI funded projects
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Greenhouse Gas Removal Plus (GGR+): Sustainable Treescapes Demonstrator & Decision Tools
Due to the need for climate change action, UK Government has committed to the ambitious task of achieving 'net zero' greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, some emissions from farming, aviation and other activities a...
Funded by: UKRI
Lead research organisation: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on increasing the carbon stored in the UK's 'treescapes' and addresses the question of how to protect and increase the UK's standing stock of organic carbon.
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Quanterra Systems: QFlux, Novel Monitoring-as-a-Service to Ground-Truth Carbon Monitoring Solutions
**Quanterra Systems ('Quanterra')** is a UK-SME focused on increasing confidence in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) with the power of analytics for tackling climate change, by providing robust, affordable, and timely measur...
Funded by: Innovate UK
Lead research organisation: QUANTERRA SYSTEMS LTD
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on measuring carbon flows in ecosystems and improving land management practices to increase carbon stocks, directly addressing the question.
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An improved empirical model of soil carbon dynamics in temperate ecosystems
More than twice as much carbon is stored in soils as in vegetation or the atmosphere, and the global carbon budget and the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are sensitive to any changes in soil carb...
Funded by: NERC
Lead research organisation: CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY
Why might this be relevant?
The project addresses the question of how to increase carbon stocks, but does not specifically mention the distribution of habitats or co-benefits such as biodiversity, clean water, and nutrient balance.