SECTORAL POLICIES / Climate

CO2 emissions from European soils exceed removals, saysEEA report

Brussels, 08/09/2022 (Agence Europe)

Overall, soils in the European Union are emitting more CO₂ into the atmosphere than they are absorbing, putting the EU’s climate ambitions at risk, warns a report published, on Thursday 8 September, by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

While organic soils, such as peatlands, are important stores of carbon, their cultivation and drainage (to convert them into arable land) results in CO₂ emissions.

In 2019, EU Member States reported a loss of carbon from organic soils corresponding to...