Grounding climate mitigation in land realities
We study land-climate interactions. We assess emerging pressures on land systems and design pathways to cut land-based emissions. We also examine how terrestrial ecosystems respond to climate variability.
Our strength is transparent carbon accounting for land use activities. We specialize in biophysical modeling tools (such as forest carbon dynamics, land surface fluxes, and agricultural life cycle assessment) and integrate evidence from remote sensing, national inventories, and field observations. Our work informs climate policy and delivers actionable insights for food security, sustainable land management, and natural climate solutions.
Liqing Peng is a joint assistant professor in the Department of Geography and the Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality at HKU. She is the leader of the APLUS lab.
APRIL, 2026
Can wood-based BECCS really deliver the negative emissions it promises? Our paper in Nature Sustainability provides a full carbon accounting of forest-based BECCS, from harvest and regrowth to processing, combustion, and carbon capture. It shows that once all system-wide carbon losses are counted, wood-based BECCS often emits more than natural gas with CCS, making meaningful climate benefits much harder to achieve than commonly assumed. Read more in our blog here
APRIL, 2026
On April 10–11, we hosted a Nature-based Solution (NbS) Exchange Workshop at HKU. On Day 1, our visiting guest Simon Racé shared case studies from Europe, followed by presentations from colleagues, Katie Chick and Darwin Leung, at the HKU Centre for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG) on their ongoing pilot projects. On Day 2, the exchange continued with a field trip to Lai Chi Wo, where participants visited local project sites and discussed opportunities for applying NbS in Hong Kong’s rural landscapes.
February, 2026
How can we build the homes the world needs without destroying habitats on our planet? Our paper in Communications Sustainability evaluates realistic pathways to decarbonize construction materials by 2050. It shows that while sustainable biomass supply is constrained for engineered bio-based products, low-carbon concrete can scale globally, offering a practical route to deliver housing and cut embodied carbon.