Grasslands in Climate Policy

Why is it in news?

• With the UN declaring 2026 as the International Year for Rangelands and Pastoralists, the article highlights the growing global demand to recognise grasslands and savannahs in climate policy, especially after repeated UNFCCC climate summits (including COP30 in Belém, Brazil) continued to prioritise forests over grasslands in climate action and financing.
• Scientists, indigenous communities, and policy groups warn that grasslands are among the world’s most threatened biomes, facing rapid loss from agriculture, invasive species, mining, fire suppression, and policy neglect — despite their major role in carbon storage, water systems, biodiversity, and livelihoods.

Relevance

• GS-3 | Environment, Climate Change, Conservation, Land Use
• GS-2 | Multilateralism, Indigenous Rights, Governance of Natural Resources

Facts & Data — Why Grasslands Matter

• Biome significance
  • Grasslands and savannahs cover ~40% of the Earth’s land surface globally.
  • They support pastoralist communities, biodiversity, and hydrological systems (e.g., Brazil’s cerrado houses 8 of 12 major river systems).
• Carbon & ecosystem services
  • Grasslands store a large share of carbon underground in soils, making them stable long-term carbon sinks (often more resilient than forests to fires & droughts).
  • Suppression of indigenous land management (e.g., controlled burns, regulated grazing) increases wildfire intensity and carbon release.

Current Threats

• Australia — desert grasslands
  • Facing climate-induced dry spells & flash floods and spread of buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) → burns hotter, displaces native grasses.
  • Indigenous Desert Alliance (IDA) uses cultural burning, invasive-species control, and ranger monitoring — but funding remains inadequate.
• Brazil — Cerrado savannah
  • Losing habitat at nearly twice the rate of the Amazon due to agriculture, mining, and land-use change.
  • 70% of Brazil’s agricultural toxic waste is dumped in the cerrado → ecological and health risks.
  • Grasslands are ecologically linked to the Amazon — “No cerrado, no Amazon”.

Policy & Multilateral Context

• UNFCCC climate focus remains forest-centric (e.g., Tropical Forest Forever Facility at COP30).
• Grasslands better recognised under CBD & UNCCD:
  • UNCCD COP16 — Resolution L15: calls rangelands complex socio-ecological systems, urges tenure security & investment.
• WWF & IUCN report at COP30: “Protecting the Overlooked Carbon Sink”
  • Recommends integrating grasslands across all three Rio Conventions and into country NDCs.

India-Specific Insights

• Grasslands in India fall under 18 different Ministries → fragmented policy and conflicting classifications
  • E.g., Environment Ministry treats grasslands as afforestation areas
  • Rural Development Ministry categorises them as “wastelands” → open to conversion.
• India’s NDC currently targets 2.5–3 billion tonnes CO₂ sink via forests/tree cover by 2030
  • Including grasslands as carbon sinks would strengthen mitigation and correct forest-bias.

What Needs to Change ?

• Recognise grasslands as independent ecosystems, not “empty land” or wasteland.
• Integrate grasslands into:
  • Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
  • Land-degradation neutrality & biodiversity frameworks
• Ensure:
  • Indigenous & community land rights + co-management
  • Ecosystem-based approaches (fires, grazing, rangeland stewardship)
• Build cross-convention coordination — UNFCCC-CBD-UNCCD → break institutional silos.