Strategies to protect the carbon cycle

What % of the planet do wetlands occupy

6 to 9%

What % of terrestrial do wetlands contain

35%

How much of the world’s wetlands have disappeared since 1970

1/3

How many hectares are the WWT restoring in steart marshes

130

how many tons of carbon have been resotred in the first four years of steart marshes

35,000

When did the African Union create the GGWi

2007

how much money has been invested into wetland restoration (somerset area)

£800K

How wide is the GGW

15km

How long is the great green wall

8,000km

How many countries does the GGW cover

11 - spanning from Senegal to Djibouti

What type of trees are planted for GGW and why

Acacia trees - drought resistant

How do the trees help the environment in GGW

Their roots anchor/bind the soil in place, preventing it from being blown away. This allows for the nutrient cycle to occur, and soils to be fertilised. Carbon in vegetation increases in these areas

How much land does the GGWi anticipate to replenish

100 million hectares of land

Weaknesses of the GGWi

the UN in 2020 found the initiative had restored less than 20% of the 100million hectares proposed
War & political instability in an already impoverished area meant member countries struggles to fund and impliment GGWi

When was Kyoto first adopted

1997

When was Kyoto first implimented

2005 (took them 13 years from the first proposal in Rio to do anything)

What was Kyoto’s initial mission

“Reduce carbon emissions back to 1990 levels”

How many countries signed OG Kyoto

193

Key weakness with Kyoto in regards to country quota

Iceland was counted as one of the 55 countries needed for it to appear ‘working’ - they rely on geothermal energy

Criticism of Kyoto RE china and india

They weren’t held to as strict standards due to being ‘developing’ - one of the top emitters

What is the paris agreement

Another international agreement adopted in 2015

Issue with Paris

It wasn’t legally binding and so no one actually complied to the extent that they promised to

Even though Paris promised to cut down emissions by 45% from 2010 levels… where are we now

16% over

From 1990 to 2010, how much did global emissions increase

32%

What country caused the biggest problems for international climate agreements

USA - Republican presidency pulled out of climate agreements whilst the Democrats went back in so no consistency + they are one of the worlds biggest emitters

What % of deforestation in the Amazon is due to livestock farming

75%