In China, more than 290 million people have relocated from rural areas to cities over the last three decades. Urbanization is generally believed to increase greenhouse gas emissions due to the clearance of forests. However, researchers from the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) have demonstrated that urbanization in China has instead triggered an increase in biomass and carbon stocks.
With the help of remote sensing technology using satellite observations to map natural resources, the researchers found that from 2002 to 2010, China's urban areas experienced carbon loss from aboveground biomass equivalent to 20 million tons, according to a statement.
This can be attributed to China's afforestation strategy, as well as the fact that as people move into dense urban areas, they leave large tracts of land behind, says postdoctoral researcher Xiaowei Tong of UCPH’s Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management in the statement. She explains that this “eases pressures on natural vegetation and lets new vegetation absorb carbon”.
China is also “very advanced when it comes incorporating green spaces into urban planning”, according to Professor Rasmus Fensholt of the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management. He explains that an increase in carbon sinks in urban areas during recent years is likely the result of an active urban greening policy.
However, if China is to achieve its goal of climate neutrality by 2060, the researchers warn that planting more trees “won’t be enough”. It is therefore “crucial for them to drastically reduce emissions from fossil fuels”, they say. Nevertheless, the study’s observations could be called “a kickstart of their green transition”.
