tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/land-use-change-110033/articlesland-use change – The Conversation2023-12-05T00:00:39Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2164362023-12-05T00:00:39Z2023-12-05T00:00:39ZFossil CO₂ emissions hit record high yet again in 2023<p>Global emissions of fossil carbon dioxide (CO₂), in yet another year of growth, will increase by 1.1% in 2023. These emissions will hit a record 36.8 billion tonnes. That’s the finding of the <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/">Global Carbon Project’s</a> 18th annual report card on the state of the <a href="https://globalcarbonbudget.org/">global carbon budget</a>, which we released today.</p>
<p>Fossil CO₂ includes emissions from the combustion and use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and cement production. Adding CO₂ emissions and removals from land-use change, such as deforestation and reforestation, human activities are projected to emit 40.9 billion tonnes of CO₂ in 2023.</p>
<p>The world’s vegetation and oceans continue to remove about half of all CO₂ emissions. The rest builds up in the atmosphere and is causing increasing warming of the planet. </p>
<p>At current emission levels, the remaining carbon budget for a one-in-two chance to limit warming to 1.5°C will likely be exceeded in seven years, and in 15 years for 1.7°C. The need to cut emissions has never been so urgent. </p>
<h2>Emissions from every fossil source are up</h2>
<p>Fossil CO₂ emissions now account for about 90% of all CO₂ emissions from human activities. Emissions from every single fossil source increased this year compared to 2022:</p>
<ul>
<li>coal (41% of global CO₂ emissions) up 1.1%</li>
<li>oil (32%) up 1.5%</li>
<li>natural gas (21%) up 0.5%</li>
<li>cement (4%) up 0.8%.</li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561807/original/file-20231127-21-qxh34e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Line graph showing emissions from fossil fuels, land-use changes and total emissions from 1960 to 2023" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561807/original/file-20231127-21-qxh34e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561807/original/file-20231127-21-qxh34e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561807/original/file-20231127-21-qxh34e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561807/original/file-20231127-21-qxh34e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561807/original/file-20231127-21-qxh34e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561807/original/file-20231127-21-qxh34e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561807/original/file-20231127-21-qxh34e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All fossil fuel sources are driving the increase in total CO₂ emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/">Global Carbon Budget 2023/Global Carbon Project</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although global emissions have increased, the picture for individual countries is more diverse. There are some signs of progress towards decarbonisation.</p>
<p>China’s emissions (31% of the global total) increased by 4% with growth in all fossil fuel sources. The highest relative growth was from oil emissions. This was in part due to the transport sector’s recovery after COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.</p>
<p>The United States’ emissions (14% of global) are down by 3%. The rapid retirement of coal-fired power plants drove most of this decline. US coal emissions are the lowest since 1903.</p>
<p>India’s emissions (8% of global) increased by 8.2%. Emissions for all fossil fuels grew by 5% or more, with coal the highest at 9.5%. India is now the world’s third-largest fossil CO₂ emitter.</p>
<p>European Union emissions (7% of global) are down by 7.4%. This decline was due to both high renewable energy penetration and the impacts on energy supply of the war in Ukraine.</p>
<p>During the decade of 2013-2022, 26 countries had declining fossil CO₂ emission trends while their economies continued to grow. The list includes Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Romania, South African, United Kingdom and USA.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561808/original/file-20231127-25-kn1l9m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Emissions by individual countries from 1960 to 2023" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561808/original/file-20231127-25-kn1l9m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561808/original/file-20231127-25-kn1l9m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561808/original/file-20231127-25-kn1l9m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561808/original/file-20231127-25-kn1l9m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561808/original/file-20231127-25-kn1l9m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561808/original/file-20231127-25-kn1l9m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561808/original/file-20231127-25-kn1l9m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Individual country performances vary widely, but there are some signs of progress towards decarbonisation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/">Global Carbon Budget 2023/Global Carbon Project</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Total CO₂ emissions are near a peak</h2>
<p>While fossil CO₂ emissions continue to increase, net emissions from land-use change, such as deforestation (CO₂ source), minus CO₂ removals, such as reforestation (CO₂ sink), appear to be falling. However, estimates of emissions from land-use change are highly uncertain and less accurate overall than for fossil fuel emissions. </p>
<p>Our preliminary estimate shows net emissions from land-use change were 4.1 billion tonnes of CO₂ in 2023. These emissions follow a small but relatively uncertain decline over the past two decades. </p>
<p>The declining trend was due to decreasing deforestation and a small increase in reforestation. The highest emitters are Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These three countries contribute 55% of net global CO₂ emissions from land-use change. </p>
<p>When we combine all CO₂ emissions from human activities (fossil and land use), we find very little trend in total emissions over the past decade. If confirmed, this would imply global CO₂ emissions from human activities are not growing further but remain at very high record levels. </p>
<p>Stable CO₂ emissions, at about 41 billion tonnes per year, will lead to continuing rapid CO₂ accumulation in the atmosphere and climate warming. To stabilise the climate, CO₂ emissions from human activities must reach net zero. This means any residual CO₂ emissions must be balanced by an equivalent CO₂ removal.</p>
<h2>Nature’s a big help, with a little human help</h2>
<p>Terrestrial vegetation and ocean absorb about half of all CO₂ emissions. This fraction has remained remarkably stable for six decades.</p>
<p>Besides the natural CO₂ sinks, humans are also removing CO₂ from the atmosphere through deliberate activities. We estimate permanent reforestation and afforestation over the past decade have removed about 1.9 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year. </p>
<p>This is equivalent to 5% of fossil fuel emissions per year. </p>
<p>Other non-vegetation strategies are in their infancy. They removed 0.01 million tonnes of CO₂. </p>
<p>Machines (direct air carbon capture and storage) pulled 0.007 million tonnes of CO₂ out of the atmosphere. Enhanced weathering projects, which accelerate natural weathering processes to increase the CO₂ uptake by spreading certain minerals, accounted for the other 0.004 million tonnes. This is more than a million times smaller than current fossil fuel emissions.</p>
<h2>The remaining carbon budget</h2>
<p>From January 2024, the remaining carbon budget for a one-in-two chance to limit global warming to 1.5°C has been reduced to 275 billion tonnes of CO₂. This budget will used up in seven years at 2023 emission levels. </p>
<p>The carbon budget for limiting warming to 1.7°C has been reduced to 625 billion tonnes of CO₂, with 15 years left at current emissions. The budget for staying below 2°C is 1,150 billion tonnes of CO₂ – 28 years at current emissions.</p>
<p>Reaching net zero by 2050 requires total anthropogenic CO₂ emissions to decrease on average by 1.5 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year. That’s comparable to the fall in 2020 emissions resulting from COVID-19 measures (-2.0 billion tonnes of CO₂). </p>
<p>Without additional negative emissions (CO₂ removal), a straight decreasing line of CO₂ emissions from today to 2050 (when many countries aspire to achieve net zero CO₂ or the more ambitious net zero for all greenhouse gases) would lead to a global mean surface temperature of 1.7°C, breaching the 1.5°C limit.</p>
<p>Renewable energy production is at a record high and growing fast. To limit climate change fossil and land-use change, CO₂ emissions must be cut much more quickly and ultimately reach net zero.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pep Canadell receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program - Climate Systems Hub.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corinne Le Quéré receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 821003 (4C), from the UN Natural Environment Research Council under grant NE/V011103/1 (Frontiers), and from the UK Royal Society under grant RP\R1\191063 (Research Professorship). Corinne Le Quéré Chairs the French High council on climate and is a member of the UK Climate Change Committee. Her position here is her own and does not necessarily reflect that of these groups.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glen Peters receives funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nos. 821003 (4C) and 958927 (CoCO2), and Horizon Europe grant agreement No 101056306 (IAM COMPACT).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Hauck receives research funding from the Helmholtz Association, European Commission, and German ministry for science and education (BMBF). She is affiliated with Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar- and Marine Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Pongratz receives funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the CDRterra program and from the Horizon Europe projects ForestNavigator and RESCUE.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philippe Ciais receives funding from the BNP Paribas Foundation (philanthropic gift for the Global Carbon Altas), the 4C EU Horizon2020 funded project, and the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pierre Friedlingstein receives funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nos. 821003 (4C) </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robbie Andrew receives funding the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nos. 821003 (4C) and 958927 (CoCO2).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Jackson receives funding from the CA Energy Commission, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, UNEP, and HT LLC.</span></em></p>Record emissions are fast shrinking the remaining amount of carbon dioxide we can emit if we are to limit global warming. At current rates, we’ll use up the budget for a 1.5°C outcome in seven years.Pep Canadell, Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Environment; Executive Director, Global Carbon Project, CSIROCorinne Le Quéré, Royal Society Research Professor of Climate Change Science, University of East AngliaGlen Peters, Senior Researcher, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - OsloJudith Hauck, Helmholtz Young Investigator group leader and deputy head, Marine Biogeosciences section a Alfred Wegener Institute, Universität BremenJulia Pongratz, Professor of Physical Geography and Land Use Systems, Department of Geography, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichPhilippe Ciais, Directeur de recherche au Laboratoire des science du climat et de l’environnement, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)Pierre Friedlingstein, Chair, Mathematical Modelling of Climate, University of ExeterRobbie Andrew, Senior Researcher, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - OsloRob Jackson, Professor, Department of Earth System Science, and Chair of the Global Carbon Project, Stanford UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1795492022-03-30T16:32:50Z2022-03-30T16:32:50ZPlanting trees can help the climate, but only if we also stop burning fossil fuels<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455046/original/file-20220329-27-5z11r1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=92%2C84%2C5006%2C3299&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trees scorched by the Caldor Fire smoulder in the Eldorado National Forest, Calif., Sept. 3, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A growing number of governments and companies are adopting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01245-w">net-zero greenhouse gas emissions targets</a>. These targets often evoke nature as a way to store or remove carbon from the atmosphere to counter the climate effect of other emissions. </p>
<p>For example, in 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised Greta Thunberg that Canada would <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/2-billion-trees.html">plant two billion trees by 2030</a>, and investing in nature is now a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2022/03/2030-emissions-reduction-plan--canadas-next-steps-for-clean-air-and-a-strong-economy.html">key part of Canada’s climate strategy</a>. </p>
<p>Forests, peat bogs, wetlands and other ecosystems remove carbon from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and store it in leaves, trunks and roots, and in the soil. But carbon storage in nature is likely temporary because it can be lost again due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz7005">either human activities or natural disturbances</a>. </p>
<p>In contrast, the climate effect of carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1236372">effectively permanent</a>. If these efforts to increase natural carbon stocks are short-lived, is there any climate benefit? </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00391-z">Our new research</a> suggests that temporary nature-based carbon storage can help achieve our climate goals. However, the most tangible effect — a decrease in peak warming — would only occur if we also eliminate fossil fuel emissions.</p>
<h2>Nature-based climate solutions</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710465114">Nature-based climate solutions</a> are actions that seek to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by increasing carbon storage in natural systems. Examples include reforestation, nature conservation and improved agricultural practices. They can contribute to climate mitigation by preventing emissions from human land-use activities, or by maintaining and enhancing natural processes that remove carbon from the atmosphere. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-investing-in-green-infrastructure-can-jump-start-the-post-coronavirus-economy-139376">How investing in green infrastructure can jump-start the post-coronavirus economy</a>
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<p>But the carbon stored in nature is <a href="https://eos.org/editor-highlights/permanence-of-nature-based-climate-solutions-at-risk">unlikely to be permanently removed from the atmosphere</a>. Disturbances like wildfire would cause carbon to be lost back to the atmosphere. Conflicting human land-use priorities can also cause previously protected natural areas to be <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/duffins-creek-pickering-wetland-save-triple-group-amazon-1.5950062">threatened by industrial activities</a>. </p>
<p>If nature-based carbon storage is temporary, then its climate benefit would also be short-lived. We need to think about nature-based climate solutions in relation to other climate mitigation efforts to understand their true benefits.</p>
<h2>What if nature-based carbon storage is temporary?</h2>
<p>Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels have climate effects that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JCLI2554.1">persist for centuries</a>. In contrast, nature-based carbon removal will only have a climate effect for as long as the carbon remains stored. </p>
<p>In our study, we set out to explore what temporary removal would mean for future climate. We used a climate model to simulate the climate response to temporary removal alongside two different future emissions scenarios.</p>
<p>If emissions continue to increase until 2040, followed by gradual decline, global temperatures would rise throughout the century. In this scenario, nature-based carbon removal would only delay the occurrence of a particular warming level. In our highest removal scenario, sequestering a quarter of current annual emissions every year until 2050 only delays the time we reach 1.5 C by a year, and 2 C by eight years. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graphic showing the impact of nature-based carbon removal on temperature with and without a decline in emissions." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453125/original/file-20220318-23-13zu0r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453125/original/file-20220318-23-13zu0r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453125/original/file-20220318-23-13zu0r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453125/original/file-20220318-23-13zu0r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453125/original/file-20220318-23-13zu0r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453125/original/file-20220318-23-13zu0r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453125/original/file-20220318-23-13zu0r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Climate effect of temporary nature-based carbon removal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Authors)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, if future emissions are decreased rapidly to net-zero by mid-century and then remain net-negative, global temperatures would peak around 1.6 C and then decline during the second half of the century. Here, temporary nature-based carbon removal would decrease the temperature peak by as much as a tenth of a degree. </p>
<p>This might seem small, but it is an important and tangible climate benefit that will only occur if the world also succeeds in eliminating fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions over the coming decades.</p>
<h2>How should we think about nature-based climate solutions?</h2>
<p>Our results challenge the way nature-based climate solutions are discussed as a climate policy option. Nature-based solutions are often presented as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abec06">one of many different ways that we could mitigate our impact on climate</a>, and are seen as interchangeable with other climate actions. Alternately, nature-based solutions <a href="https://www.naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org/news/on-the-misuse-of-nature-based-carbon-offsets/">are used as offsets</a>, explicitly held up as a substitute for other emissions reductions.</p>
<p>Both of these framings are problematic. If nature-based carbon storage is temporary, then its climate effect is not equivalent to avoiding fossil fuel carbon dioxide emission. This means that treating nature-based carbon storage as an alternative to other emissions reductions will, at best, delay crossing temperature thresholds. At worst, this could lead to more emissions and long-term warming.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A row of cars parked along a street, with several plugged into small charging towers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455273/original/file-20220330-5881-19ke1xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455273/original/file-20220330-5881-19ke1xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455273/original/file-20220330-5881-19ke1xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455273/original/file-20220330-5881-19ke1xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455273/original/file-20220330-5881-19ke1xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455273/original/file-20220330-5881-19ke1xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455273/original/file-20220330-5881-19ke1xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Electric vehicles charge at street stations in Norway.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, if we take action to increase natural carbon storage in addition to ambitious emissions reductions, it could contribute to limiting peak warming. Even temporary nature-based carbon storage could have an important climate benefit. </p>
<h2>The case for better nature conservation and stewardship</h2>
<p>Our results reveal some of the risks of relying on nature-based climate solutions at the expense of other climate mitigation efforts. However, nature conservation and better stewardship of natural areas can also lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0120">other positive environmental outcomes</a>. These environmental co-benefits, such as increased biodiversity and improved water and air quality, are also vital to climate resilience. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial view of a wetland with an area destroyed by peat extraction in the foreground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455274/original/file-20220330-5685-19gg6b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455274/original/file-20220330-5685-19gg6b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455274/original/file-20220330-5685-19gg6b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455274/original/file-20220330-5685-19gg6b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455274/original/file-20220330-5685-19gg6b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455274/original/file-20220330-5685-19gg6b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455274/original/file-20220330-5685-19gg6b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wetlands, including those that have been damaged and destroyed by peat mining, can be restored to improve carbon storage if managed properly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If done in partnership with Indigenous and other local communities, nature-based solutions could also have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15513">positive social co-benefits</a> such as supporting livelihoods and cultural values. Taking a holistic view of nature-based climate solutions would help to realize these multiple benefits. </p>
<p>It is critical that nature-based climate solutions are not presented as an alternative to other climate mitigation options. As a complementary action however, they could play an important role in meeting both climate and other sustainability goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179549/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>H. Damon Matthews receives funding from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The research described in this article was made possibly by funding from Microsoft. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Luers has received funding from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. She holds a position at Microsoft as the global lead for sustainability science.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Zickfeld receives funding from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Planting trees and preventing deforestation can store carbon in nature, but the effect may only be temporary. If we also eliminate emissions from fossil fuels, even this temporary effect is important.H. Damon Matthews, Professor and Concordia University Research Chair in Climate Science and Sustainability, Concordia UniversityAmy Luers, Affiliate Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia UniversityKirsten Zickfeld, Distinguished Professor of Climate Science, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1766382022-03-09T13:28:12Z2022-03-09T13:28:12ZCarbon markets could protect nature and the planet, but only if the rights of those who live there are recognized too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449936/original/file-20220303-4351-hi0xro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C44%2C4213%2C2753&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Carbon markets can protect forests but increasing the economic value of these lands can also create incentives for land-grabbing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Boudewijn Huysmans/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/">timber harvesting, agriculture and land-use change</a>, such as clearing forests to make way for farms. Many see carbon markets as key to channelling billions of dollars into reducing these emissions, while protecting forests and other carbon sinks, such as peatlands and wetlands, in developing countries.</p>
<p>Carbon markets are trading systems through which countries, businesses, individuals or other entities buy or sell units of greenhouse gas emissions. These markets facilitate carbon offsetting — compensating for carbon dioxide emissions in one location by reducing or removing emissions elsewhere. For example, a company in the United Kingdom that relies on natural gas heating might buy offsets that finance the restoration of a coastal mangrove forest in Indonesia.</p>
<p>But the increased interest in carbon markets that operate across borders comes with a number of risks. In particular, many forest carbon offsetting schemes are located in lands historically claimed, inhabited and used by Indigenous Peoples and local communities. But often, the rights of these communities have not been secured, putting their well-being at risk — and threatening the future of carbon markets.</p>
<h2>Carbon markets growing</h2>
<p>The reliance on carbon markets has been <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/carbon-offsets-are-not-our-get-out-jail-free-card">criticized for allowing developed nations and corporations to delay their emissions reductions</a>, <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/environment/climate/2021/11/a-further-act-of-colonisation-why-indigenous-peoples-fear-carbon-offsetting">encroaching on the lands of Indigenous Peoples and local communities</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325038341_Commodification_of_forest_carbon_REDD_and_socially_embedded_forest_practices_in_Zanzibar">commodifying nature</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the voluntary carbon market, which enables companies and people to buy carbon offsets as part of corporate or personal commitments to social responsibility, is expanding rapidly. In 2021, the value of carbon credits traded on the voluntary market <a href="https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/voluntary-carbon-markets-top-1-billion-in-2021-with-newly-reported-trades-special-ecosystem-marketplace-cop26-bulletin/">exceeded US$1 billion</a>, more than double the value in 2020. </p>
<p>Projects that sequester carbon in forests and soils generate a significant share of the carbon credits traded on this market. Such projects are also likely to play an increasing role in <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/i1632e/i1632e02.pdf">compliance markets</a>, as countries seek to meet their mandatory emissions reduction targets and commitments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a shallow boat fishing next to a forest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450092/original/file-20220304-15-3hsofk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450092/original/file-20220304-15-3hsofk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450092/original/file-20220304-15-3hsofk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450092/original/file-20220304-15-3hsofk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450092/original/file-20220304-15-3hsofk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450092/original/file-20220304-15-3hsofk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450092/original/file-20220304-15-3hsofk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man fishes from a traditional boat on the third-largest river in South America, the Orinoco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A recent report by researchers from the Rights and Resources Initiative and McGill University, including ourselves, found that <a href="https://rightsandresources.org/publication/carbon-rights-technical-report/">many of the carbon sinks targeted by offsetting schemes are located in lands where Indigenous or local rights have not been secured</a>. Most of the tropical forested countries looking to benefit from carbon markets have not yet defined communities’ rights over the carbon held in their customary lands and territories.</p>
<p>This situation threatens both the well-being of communities who face increased threats of land grabs, criminalization, conflict and other human rights violations, and the viability of carbon markets themselves. </p>
<h2>Communities at risk</h2>
<p>At COP26, in November 2021, <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-glasgow-climate-pact/cop26-outcomes-market-mechanisms-and-non-market-approaches-article-6#eq-1">states agreed on a series of rules to govern market-based activities under Article 6</a> of the Paris Agreement. Article 6 sets out co-operative approaches that countries can take to reach their climate targets, including through the use of market mechanisms such as carbon markets.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-strong-carbon-trading-rules-could-help-the-world-avoid-dangerous-levels-of-global-warming-151172">COP26: Strong carbon-trading rules could help the world avoid dangerous levels of global warming</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Negotiators weren’t able to completely eliminate the loopholes for using offsets. But the rules aim to improve environmental integrity, <a href="https://www.sei.org/featured/double-counting-of-emission-reductions-paris-agreement/">avoid the double counting of emissions reductions</a> — where a single greenhouse gas emission reduction or removal unit is counted more than once to comply with emissions reductions targets — and provide enhanced transparency.</p>
<p>As private and public carbon markets develop, the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/forest-preservation-in-a-changing-climate/774E3A031D915471BEFF3F9A86FC6C83">potential benefits and risks of carbon trading for Indigenous Peoples and local communities</a> increase.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.iwgia.org/images/publications/0639_REED_Final_solved_eb.pdf">Potential benefits</a> include increased financial flows for forest protection and conservation, better recognition of community rights and improved livelihood opportunities, such as the sustainable production of non-timber forest products. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://www.planvivo.org/yaeda-eyasi">Plan Vivo, a carbon offsetting standard, is leading a project</a> in collaboration with the hunter-gatherer Hadza and pastoralist Datooga communities in northwestern Tanzania has reduced deforestation, enhanced tenure security (the recognition of a person’s rights to land by others) — and provided local communities with additional income.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1493646941091155969"}"></div></p>
<p>On the other hand, increasing the economic value of the carbon sequestered in the lands and territories held by communities, whether legally recognized or not, creates incentives for <a href="http://revistas.unisinos.br/index.php/RECHTD/article/view/rechtd.2020.123.15/60748320">land-grabbing</a> by corporations, NGOs and governments. One of the most notorious projects of this kind is a Kenyan program for reducing deforestation that has led to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/sep/29/world-bank-kenya-forest-dwellers">forced eviction of thousands of Indigenous people from their traditional lands and forests</a>. </p>
<p>To maximize benefits and avoid harms, governments, public and private investors, and other actors in the world of carbon finance must adopt rights-based approaches to fully respect, protect and realize the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and <a href="https://sur.conectas.org/en/afro-descendants-as-subjects-of-rights-in-international-human-rights-law/">Afro-descendant Peoples</a>, such as Quilombola in Brazil. But achieving such ends within the context of rapidly increasing pressure for results will not be easy.</p>
<h2>The importance of securing communities’ rights</h2>
<p>Our report found that many countries still lack the laws, regulations and safeguards needed to ensure the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities were fully protected.</p>
<p>Our study analyzed 31 countries that hold almost 70 per cent of the world’s tropical forests. We found that less than a quarter of them explicitly recognize the rights of communities to govern and benefit from carbon rights. Even fewer have implemented the rules and safeguards required by the <a href="https://redd.unfccc.int/fact-sheets/safeguards.html">United Nations</a> and the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework">World Bank</a> for forest carbon trading.</p>
<p>Key findings from our recent research include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Only six countries explicitly recognize community rights to carbon (Ethiopia, Peru and the Republic of Congo) or tie such rights to the legal ownership of lands and forests, whether private, public or communal (Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica).</p></li>
<li><p>Only five countries — Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam define how carbon and non-carbon benefits will be shared. These include the quantity of emissions avoided or carbon sequestered, as well as the additional, positive socio-economic or environmental effects of these activities. Only Vietnam has an operational benefit-sharing scheme.</p></li>
<li><p>Only two of the 17 countries that have developed feedback and grievance mechanisms have put them into operation (Costa Rica and Mexico).</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The silhouette of an open forest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450085/original/file-20220304-13-8nun1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450085/original/file-20220304-13-8nun1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450085/original/file-20220304-13-8nun1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450085/original/file-20220304-13-8nun1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450085/original/file-20220304-13-8nun1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450085/original/file-20220304-13-8nun1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450085/original/file-20220304-13-8nun1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Agricultural expansion and the extraction of wood to make charcoal are the leading causes of deforestation in the Oromia forest of southwestern Ethiopia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/150102727@N06/26209577968">(Nina R/flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Closing the gap</h2>
<p>To address the considerable gap that lies between the ambition and implementation of voluntary carbon markets, crediting schemes, private investors, civil society organizations and dedicated institutions must work with tropical forest governments to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Secure the legal recognition and protection of the land, forest and territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and Afro-descendant Peoples, including the carbon stored therein and the ecosystem services that these provide.</p></li>
<li><p>Adopt robust safeguards to protect the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, Afro-descendant Peoples and women within these groups, including their right to free, prior and informed consent.</p></li>
<li><p>Ensure the full and effective participation of communities and peoples in all Article 6 activities, from initial design to implementation, monitoring and reporting.</p></li>
<li><p>Provide access to independent legal counsel and grievance redress mechanisms for Indigenous Peoples, local communities and Afro-descendant Peoples.</p></li>
<li><p>Dramatically increase direct financing support for community-led initiatives, needs and priorities, including capacity building, natural resource governance and local livelihoods.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Combined with the fundamental decarbonization of global supply chains and changes in the incentives that drive deforestation and forest degradation, binding commitments to respect forest and land rights are necessary to protect the world’s forests and the communities that live in or near them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sebastien Jodoin's research on carbon markets and human rights has been funded by the Rights & Resources Initiative and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Lofts previously consulted on the subject of carbon markets for the Rights & Resources Initiative as a co-author of the report discussed in this article.</span></em></p>Many see carbon markets as key to channelling billions of dollars into reducing carbon emissions and protecting forests, but they also put the well-being of communities at risk.Sebastien Jodoin, Associate Professor of Law, McGill UniversityKatherine Lofts, Senior Research Associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Health, and the Environment, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1668952021-09-14T02:39:43Z2021-09-14T02:39:43Z‘The pigs can smell man’: how decimation of Borneo’s ancient rainforests threatens hunters and the hunted<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420236/original/file-20210909-17-12fslap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C521%2C2819%2C1745&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monika Gregussova/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For more than 40,000 years, Indigenous communities in Borneo have hunted and eaten bearded pigs – huge, nomadic animals that roam the island in Southeast Asia. These 100kg creatures are central to the livelihood and culture of some Bornean peoples – in fact, some hunters rarely talk of anything else.</p>
<p>But this ancient relationship is now at serious risk. Oil palm expansion and urbanisation are forcing changes to hunting practices in Sabah, a Malaysian state in Borneo. <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10250">Our research</a> examined these changes by focusing on Indigenous Kadazandusun-Murut hunters, for whom bearded pigs are a favourite game animal. </p>
<p>The oil palm industry has cleared much of Borneo’s lowland tropical rainforests to make way for plantations. And a shift to a more agrarian and urbanised life means many people hunt less than they used to.</p>
<p>Hunting is one of the most fundamental and enduring of human–wildlife relationships. But the changing dynamic between Borneo’s pigs and Indigenous peoples is a powerful reminder of the fragility of these connections. There is much at stake right now, for both the hunted and the hunter. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Detail from an artistic representation of a traditional form of Indigenous bearded pig hunting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy Koehler/author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Changing times</h2>
<p>As its name suggests, the bearded pig has a prominent beard. It’s a large species thought to move up to 650km in search of food, in large herds of up to 300 individuals. </p>
<p>Wild meat can contribute to as much as 36% of meals in Indigenous Bornean societies, and bearded pig meat accounts for 54–97% of this by weight. Bearded pig hunting is also central to recreation, gift-giving and social practices in many of Borneo’s Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>But widespread deforestation and agricultural expansion (primarily oil palm and rubber plantations) has drastically reduced bearded pig habitat in recent decades. The bearded pig is now listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. </p>
<p>Sabah has been on the front lines of the oil palm boom since the late 20th century. As of 2015, roughly 24% of Sabah’s land area was covered by oil palm or pulpwood plantations. </p>
<p>Sabahans sometimes take work with oil palm companies, own their own oil palm smallholdings or move to urban areas for relatively well-paying jobs in manufacturing and retail. </p>
<p>Those who remain in rural parts of the state have reduced access to croplands and forests in some areas which, among other negative impacts, restricts their ability to hunt game.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/human-progress-is-no-excuse-to-destroy-nature-a-push-to-make-ecocide-a-global-crime-must-recognise-this-fundamental-truth-164594">Human progress is no excuse to destroy nature. A push to make ‘ecocide’ a global crime must recognise this fundamental truth</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="oil palm plantation meets rainforest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oil palm plantations have fundamentally changed Borneo’s landscape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘This is our life’</h2>
<p>We investigated how the above land-use changes have affected pig hunting practices of the Kadazandusun-Murut ethnic group, including 38 interviews with bearded pig hunters.</p>
<p>Hunters are adapting new methods to pursue pigs inside plantations. Respondents reported that hunting in oil palm plantations was easier overall than hunting in forests – because the walking was generally less tiring (and they could sometimes hunt from a car), it was easier to see pigs and foraging locations were more predictable. </p>
<p>Five respondents noted a difference between the taste of meat from pigs in oil palm plantations as compared to forest. One said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The pig from the forest is much tastier, it’s more fit. If the pig eats oil palm its fat isn’t as sweet. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many hunters said bearded pigs were “wilder”, “smarter” and more skittish than they had been in the past. Comments included:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The pigs can smell man; they are getting more wild because they are always getting shot by men.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another participant said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the past pigs only looked, but now they run away. Now the pig has got a high school certificate.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Among hunters who had started hunting before 1985, 71% noted this increased flight response, whereas only 26% of those who began hunting after 1985 mentioned this behavioural change.</p>
<p>Respondents consumed wild bearded pig meat more frequently in rural villages than in urban contexts, indicating an important shift in dietary patterns. Some respondents also hunted less frequently when living in urban environments, due to having less time, increased distance to the forest, lower energy because of having to work or other factors. </p>
<p>But despite these substantial changes in hunting practices, much has remained the same over the last few decades.
Hunting with guns has remained the primary technique over the past two generations, and meat provision is the primary motivation to hunt. </p>
<p>One respondent said his father taught him:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is our life. We live in the forest; this is our food.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Cultural practices, such as gifting the meat for community events, provided additional motivations to hunt. Some considered weddings, festivals and church events to be incomplete without bearded pig meat.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="meat on grill" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Wild pig meat is an important source of food in Borneo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Preserving a fragile relationship</h2>
<p>Our results show both the persistence and malleability of hunting practices among Kadazandusun-Murut people in Sabah. The challenge now is how best to manage bearded pig hunting in the face of ongoing oil palm expansion, urbanisation and broader political–economic changes. </p>
<p>The onslaught of African Swine Flu is complicating matters. For the pigs, the deadly virus is an extra burden for a species already in decline. For some Indigenous hunters, it threatens their food security and livelihoods. </p>
<p>The loss of bearded pigs also erodes traditional celebrations and family gatherings, and the passing down of ancient customary hunting practices to children. </p>
<p>Environmental governance initiatives should support the cultural traditions of Borneo’s Indigenous communities, and any new regulation should be devised in collaboration with local people and tailored to their needs. At the same time, these initiatives must ensure the long-term conservation of bearded pig populations and their habitat.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/orangutans-gibbons-and-mr-sooty-what-the-origins-of-words-in-southeast-asia-tell-us-about-our-long-relationships-with-animals-165175">Orangutans, gibbons and Mr Sooty: what the origins of words in Southeast Asia tell us about our long relationships with animals</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The changing dynamic between Borneo’s pigs and Indigenous people is a powerful reminder of the fragility of the human-nature connection.Matthew Scott Luskin, Lecturer in Conservation Science, The University of QueenslandDavid Kurz, Postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Science, Trinity CollegeFiffy Hanisdah Saikim, Senior lecturer, Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Indigenous KnowledgeMatthew D. Potts, Professor, S.J. Hall Chair in Forest Economics, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.