As Estonia's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions forecast indicates that neither existing nor planned measures will meet the 2030 target for reducing GHG emissions or the 2050 climate neutrality goal, ministries have begun seeking additional measures to reduce CO2. In this context, attention has also turned to agriculture.

Using drained peat soils for crop cultivation emits significantly more GHG per hectare compared to the same land used as permanent grassland. Therefore, converting these fields into permanent grasslands would greatly contribute to reducing the agricultural sector's climate footprint.

A recent analysis by the Center of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge (METK) indicates that approximately 8 percent (30,848 hectares) of Estonia's agricultural land consists of peat soils. In terms of GHG emissions, drained peat areas are second only to the energy sector and ahead of the transportation sector. It is estimated that 2-8 million tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) are emitted annually from these drained peatlands.

If, between 2025 and 2030, 3,000 hectares of peat soil agricultural land were converted to permanent grassland each year, this measure would reduce GHG emissions by an average of 67,856 tons of CO2e annually. By 2030, this would reduce the agricultural sector's total GHG emissions by 116,300 tons of CO2e, or 5.1 percent, compared to 2022.

Ants-Hannes Viira, head of the METK analysis working group, explained to ERR that the main obstacle to converting drained peat soils to grasslands is that such lands are divided among a large number of farmers, and in some cases, these lands make up a significant portion of a farmer's total land.

"There are 2,800 land users and 30,000 hectares in total. Coordinating this conversion so that each land user converts their peat soil agricultural land to permanent grassland can be a major challenge," Viira said.

Another obstacle lies in rental relationships. About two-thirds of the agricultural land in use is rented by farmers from other landowners.

"For example, today I rent or own peat soil agricultural land, grow wheat or carrots there, and pay the landowner rent of €150 per hectare or earn income from food production. If I convert the land to permanent grassland, GHG emissions from my land will decrease, but I will earn almost nothing from it and will not be able to pay rent to the landowner or earn income myself," Viira explained. "This necessary change affects both farmers and landowners, as the value of the land decreases due to reduced potential income from the land."

As a result, situations may arise where a farmer may want to reduce their business' climate footprint and make the change, but the landowner may not be interested due to the resulting decrease in rental income.

"This is actually one of the main complexities with this and other land-use change measures. Calculations show that this is where we could reduce a significant portion of the agricultural sector's emissions with relatively low overall costs. However, the overall picture consists of many different individuals and many different plots of land, and interests may sometimes be conflicting," Viira noted.

Other land-use change measures, such as rewetting natural grasslands on drained peat soils, rewetting agricultural land on polder areas, and partial afforestation of agricultural land, are also relatively cost-effective in reducing GHG emissions. However, these measures must also consider the potential divergence of interests between landowners and land users, Viira added.

Reducing GHG emissions using new technologies is relatively expensive compared to land-use changes based on current calculations. However, since technological renewal is an ongoing process, the agricultural sector should be directed towards technological choices that help reduce the climate footprint, he added.

Estonia is seeking additional opportunities to reduce its GHG emissions. Forecasts indicate that robust development of renewable energy can meet the EU's climate goals to reduce net GHG emissions by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, ministries are mapping out possible additional measures to reduce GHG emissions across different sectors.

Peat soils consist mainly of organic matter, which makes up 80-97 percent of peat, with about half of the organic matter being carbon. In natural conditions, peat accumulates in bogs and sequesters carbon. However, after drainage, peat accumulation ceases, and the carbon stored in the soil starts to decompose and is released into the atmosphere.

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