Demonstration of climate change mitigation potential of nutrients rich organic soils in Baltic States and Finland (LIFE OrgBalt) Source of funding LIFE Scientific leader Aleksejs Nipers Project website https://ej.uz/7j7o Duration 2019-2023 Budget 327 000 EUR Project description The aim of the LIFE OrgBalt project is to implement innovative CCM measures in nutrient-rich organic soils in the TCM climate zone. Theoretically, these measures have the potential to reduce GHG emissions by almost 20 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, including in the agriculture sector, which accounted for 63% of emissions from organic soils in 2015. The project will evaluate whether this is realistic. Its specific objectives are to: improve the GHG accounting methods and activity data for nutrient-rich organic soils under conventional management conditions; identify and demonstrate sustainable, resilient and cost-effective CCM measures suitable for nutrient-rich organicsoils; and provide tools and guidance for elaborating, implementing and verifying the impact of the CCM measures. By reducing GHG emissions from cropland, grasslands and forest land on nutrient-rich organic soils, LIFE OrgBalt will contribute to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement, EU policies (e.g. Regulation (EU) 2018/841) and national climate policy targets in the post-2020 period. The project will also help implement EU climate action targets in the agriculture and LULUCF (land use, land use change and forestry) sectors post-2020. These include reducing GHG emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 80-95% come 2050, compared to 1990. Project partners Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, Latvia Association Baltic Coasts (BaltCoasts), Latvia Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (LRCAF), Lithuania Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU), Latvia Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Finland Ministry of Agriculture of Republic of Latvia (MA), Latvia Michael Succow Foundation (MSF), Germany University of Tartu (UT), Estonia
