India is ranked at the top in emissions related to crop burning, accounting for 13% of total global emissions for the 2015-2020 period, according to a new report released by climate tech startup Blue Sky Analytics, which is also part of global coalition “Climate TRACE”.
The data in the report reveal new insights into recent trends in biomass fires, including emissions from forest and crop residue fires (also stubble burning) in India. For example, the data verify the downward trend in crop fires observed between 2016 and 2019, citing a reduction in the GHG emissions due to cropland fires by 11.39% in the said period.
However, it also points to an increase in emissions by 12.8% in 2019-20, increasing India’s global contribution to 12.2%.
Climate TRACE is an international coalition with a mission to accelerate climate action by providing independent high-resolution and near-real-time (GHG) emissions data. Its innovative approach fills critical knowledge gaps for all countries that rely on the system of self-reporting that currently serves as the basis for most existing emissions inventories.
The emissions estimated by Blue Sky Analytics cover both fires caused by human activities, including burning in forest areas for conversion to agricultural land or of crop residues and wildfire activity, producing a comprehensive picture of fire emissions.
With the help of the combination of multiple satellite data sources for active fire identification and characteristics with higher resolution global land cover maps, these estimates supplement the existing country-level reporting methods, which rely primarily on seasonal estimations and ground measurements of the burnt area.