– We believe that a ban is a more effective tool than taxes, says Environment Director Ellen Hambro to news. In a letter to the Ministry of Climate and the Environment, the directorate proposes to give the industry that currently operates with peat “about 15 more years, so that it has time to readjust”. In Great Britain, the sale of peat will be banned from 2024. In the letter, which was sent this week, the Norwegian Environment Agency points out that peat removal involves ditching and drainage, which leads to the breakdown of organic material and the release of greenhouse gases. – This is about limiting the temperature range and fulfilling our international obligations, says Hambro. She adds that there should also be restrictions on the import of peat “to prevent carbon leakage and that negative effects on nature are moved to other countries”. – Nature is just as far if it is allowed to import – This is good. If the alternative is to import peat, then nature is just as far, says Christian Steel, who is the leader of the environmental organization Sabima. Various tools to prevent new and carbon-rich peat withdrawals have previously been mentioned in the climate report that the Solberg government presented in 2021. Peat is primarily used as soil for growing plants. In the picture, a peat extraction at Leinsmyra in Verdal. Photo: Erlend Skutberg Among what is called the environmental party in the Storting, the signal from the Environment Directorate is well received: Arild Hermstad (MDG): – A ban on the destruction of bogs should be an obvious thing for the government to adopt as soon as possible. Protecting the bog is a free climate measure that helps the planet store more carbon. Birgit Oline Kjerstad (SV): – We are happy that there may be a ban. We have had this in our alternative budget for many years. Alfred Bjørlo (V): – This week the UN Secretary-General urged all the world’s countries to do everything possible to cut climate emissions quickly. Taking care of bogs is not a big sacrifice, but a natural part of a future-oriented climate and nature policy. The removal of peat mainly takes place on moors, which have the status of an endangered nature type. In the recommendation to the Norwegian Environment Agency, they advocate that bog bogs also receive the status of “selected nature type”. Facts about selected nature types • Certain nature types can be adopted as selected nature types under the Natural Diversity Act. • When a nature type is selected, the law states that we must take special care of it. This means that we must avoid affecting them negatively so that the nature type becomes less widespread or has a worse ecological condition. • The rules apply both in public administration and to others who can affect such occurrences. Greater emphasis must also be placed on natural types when public enterprises award grants. • All decisions that come close to occurrences of selected nature types must be registered in the Register of Environmental Decisions. • If a selected nature type needs care or other measures, the governing authorities must draw up an action plan for the nature type. Care is measures to maintain or achieve desirable nature. • In order to decide whether a nature type should be selected, emphasis must be placed on whether the nature type: – has a development or condition that makes the nature type endangered – is important for one or more priority species – has a significant part of its distribution in Norway – has international obligations attached to it Source: The Environment Agency JØLSTER: The so-called “net-zero obligation”, which Norway is committed to through the EU’s climate framework, states that the emissions from the land use sector must not exceed the absorption in the same sector. Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news In the past, Norway has had eight selected nature types: grassland, hay bog, hollow oak, lime forest, limestone lakes, coastal heather, open shallow limestone and olive forest. When a nature type is too selected to count, the Natural Diversity Act says that it requires extra protection. – In Norway, there are currently approximately 150 square kilometers of peat bog. Preservation of these is central to achieving the environmental goal of taking care of endangered species, says Hambro. This is what the environmental organizations Sverre Lundemo, WWF say – It is good that the directorate is proposing a ban on peat extraction, but 15 years until conversion is far too kind. In 2030, the global environmental goals in the upcoming nature agreement (which will be finalized in Montreal in December) will be met, and that is when we will reverse the trends of nature loss so that we get more nature, not less. Bogs are valuable as a carbon store, as home to a great diversity of species, for water purification, flood mitigation and much more. So this is too little, too slow and too late. Truls Gulowsen, Naturvernforbundet – A ban on peat extraction and a ban on the import of peat products are clearly sensible climate and nature measures that we applaud. Ants should also be protected through a general ban on demolition, ditching and new cultivation, where all possible measures must go through a special dispensation. In Viken county alone, more than 5,000 decares of bogs are planned to be reduced in municipal land plans, especially for cottages, completely contrary to national targets for the conservation of bogs. Christian Steel, Sabima – There must be both a ban on sales and withdrawals. The most important thing right now is that not a single permit is given for new turf outlets. That would be absolutely crazy. – In order to prevent new turf extractions, we believe a ban is a more effective tool than taxes, says environment director Ellen Hambro to news. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB As much carbon as in the atmosphere High bogs can be up to 10 meters deep. When these become saturated with water, the breakdown of the organic material slows down. This means that the marsh ants can bind an extra amount of carbon per area unit. According to NIBIO, the total amount of carbon in all the world’s bogs is roughly the same as in the atmosphere. Sustainable Development Goal 15 obliges the countries to “implement immediate and comprehensive measures to reduce the destruction of habitat, stop the loss of biological diversity and by 2020 protect threatened species and prevent their extinction.” The proposal to make high marshes a selected nature type has been subject to consultation, and received broad support from the consultation parties.
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The state will ban removing peat from bogs – news Vestland
