Evidence item

For each wetland type and country, the potential carbon storage loss is defined as the difference between the undisturbed baseline and the disturbance-adjusted stock, expressed in CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq) units. Summed across wetland classes and countries, these estimates indicate a disturbance-associated stock difference observed under 2018 conditions, rather than a realized emission trajectory over a specified time period. Land-use disturbances correspond to potential losses of 0.8–4.9 Gt CO2-eq, equivalent to roughly 10–11% of the mean soil carbon storage pool in European wetlands. All estimates represent 2018 conditions and quantify potential carbon storage losses associated with contemporary land-use disturbance, rather than annual greenhouse-gas emission rates, and are restricted to natural and seminatural open wetlands, excluding historically lost wetlands, forested wetlands and heavily drained peatlands.