Restoring degraded terrestrial habitats across the European Union would remove around 84 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year, says a study by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) published, on Monday 7 February, ahead of the European Commission’s plans to present a nature protection package on 23 March.
According to the NGO WWF, which commissioned the study, this corresponds to about 300 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or as much as the combined annual emissions of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
“This number is not a precise estimate, but an order of magnitude” and excludes sparsely vegetated and marine habitats, says IEEP, a think tank working on various environmental issues. The study also stresses the importance of conserving existing intact habitats.
