IPCC WGIII Report: The Land Sector and Climate Mitigation

The land sector is essential for 1.5°C and 2°C pathways, potentially providing up to 30% of global mitigation. While it offers significant near-term potential at low cost, the IPCC warns that land-based mitigation cannot compensate for delayed emissions reductions in other sectors. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is deemed necessary for net-zero targets, but the IPCC highlights substantial uncertainties, risks, and a massive investment gap, with current annual investment at USD 0.7 billion against a needed USD 400 billion.

• Rapid deployment of land sector mitigation is critical for all 1.5°C pathways and could contribute up to 30% of the total global mitigation required for 1.5°C and 2°C pathways.
• The global land-based mitigation potential between 2020 and 2050 is estimated at 8–14 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (GtCO2-eq) annually for costs under USD 100 per tCO2. Approximately 30-50% of this potential is achievable at costs below USD 20 per tCO2-eq.
• Protecting, managing, and restoring forests and other ecosystems has the highest mitigation potential, potentially sequestering or reducing up to 7.4 GtCO2-eq annually between 2020 and 2050. Agriculture and demand-side measures follow, with potentials of up to 4.1 and 3.6 GtCO2-eq per year, respectively.
• Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is necessary to reach net-zero GHG emissions and counterbalance residual emissions from hard-to-abate sectors. However, the IPCC does not advocate for large-scale CDR due to risks, uncertainties regarding long-term sink maintenance, and a lack of social licence.
• There is a severe investment shortfall in land-based mitigation; current annual investments are only USD 0.7 billion, whereas more than USD 400 billion per year is required to meet deep mitigation scenarios.
• The land sector acted as a net sink, removing approximately 6.6 GtCO2 per year from 2010 to 2019, although it accounted for 13%-21% of global GHG emissions during the same period.
• Large-scale deployment of certain measures, such as bioenergy, biochar, and afforestation of naturally unforested land, may compete for agricultural land, potentially threatening food security and reducing adaptive capacity.

APA

Team, Z. (2022). IPCC WGIII Report: The Land Sector and Climate Mitigation. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/ipcc-wgiii-report-the-land-sector-and-climate-mitigation/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. IPCC WGIII Report: The Land Sector and Climate Mitigation. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2022. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/ipcc-wgiii-report-the-land-sector-and-climate-mitigation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=IPCC WGIII Report: The Land Sector and Climate Mitigation |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=6 April 2022 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/ipcc-wgiii-report-the-land-sector-and-climate-mitigation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2022ipcc, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{IPCC WGIII Report: The Land Sector and Climate Mitigation}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/ipcc-wgiii-report-the-land-sector-and-climate-mitigation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }