Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems

Food systems generate about one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Without reducing them, it will not be possible to stabilize the climate and keep the increase in global temperature below 1.5oC from pre industrial levels. About 50 percent of agricultural emissions (in CO2eq) comes from...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Martin, Will, Vos, Rob
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168658
_version_ 1855539358571954176
author Martin, Will
Vos, Rob
author_browse Martin, Will
Vos, Rob
author_facet Martin, Will
Vos, Rob
author_sort Martin, Will
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Food systems generate about one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Without reducing them, it will not be possible to stabilize the climate and keep the increase in global temperature below 1.5oC from pre industrial levels. About 50 percent of agricultural emissions (in CO2eq) comes from methane, a super potent GHG, mostly from livestock production and rice cultivation. We consider six broad approaches to emission reduction from agriculture—emission taxes, repurposing of farm subsidies, regulations, investing in green innovations, carbon credits, and demand-side interventions. We find that not only carbon taxes on agricultural production, but also rearranging agricultural subsidies will have only small impacts in terms of improving human and planetary health. Regulatory approaches, including conditionality and payment for environmental services (PES) can be counterproductive if they lower yields and require expansion of agricultural land use. Instead, we find that investing more in R&D for sustainable intensification of agriculture focused on productivity enhancing innovations have strong potential to generate major efficiency gains, drastic reductions in emissions and improved food security. Demand interventions designed to contribute both to environmental goals and improvements in health outcomes can play a supporting role. Since multiple sustainable development goals are to be achieved, no single instrument by itself will be effective. Instead, multiple policy instruments will need to be bundled and designed to create synergies and address trade-offs.
format Artículo preliminar
id CGSpace168658
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1686582025-11-06T07:33:44Z Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems Martin, Will Vos, Rob food systems greenhouse gas emissions agriculture taxes subsidies regulations sustainable development goals Food systems generate about one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Without reducing them, it will not be possible to stabilize the climate and keep the increase in global temperature below 1.5oC from pre industrial levels. About 50 percent of agricultural emissions (in CO2eq) comes from methane, a super potent GHG, mostly from livestock production and rice cultivation. We consider six broad approaches to emission reduction from agriculture—emission taxes, repurposing of farm subsidies, regulations, investing in green innovations, carbon credits, and demand-side interventions. We find that not only carbon taxes on agricultural production, but also rearranging agricultural subsidies will have only small impacts in terms of improving human and planetary health. Regulatory approaches, including conditionality and payment for environmental services (PES) can be counterproductive if they lower yields and require expansion of agricultural land use. Instead, we find that investing more in R&D for sustainable intensification of agriculture focused on productivity enhancing innovations have strong potential to generate major efficiency gains, drastic reductions in emissions and improved food security. Demand interventions designed to contribute both to environmental goals and improvements in health outcomes can play a supporting role. Since multiple sustainable development goals are to be achieved, no single instrument by itself will be effective. Instead, multiple policy instruments will need to be bundled and designed to create synergies and address trade-offs. 2024-12-31 2025-01-07T21:25:16Z 2025-01-07T21:25:16Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168658 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Martin, Will; and Vos, Rob. 2024. Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems. Rethinking Food Markets Initiative Technical Paper. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168658
spellingShingle food systems
greenhouse gas emissions
agriculture
taxes
subsidies
regulations
sustainable development goals
Martin, Will
Vos, Rob
Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems
title Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems
title_full Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems
title_fullStr Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems
title_full_unstemmed Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems
title_short Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems
title_sort options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food systems
topic food systems
greenhouse gas emissions
agriculture
taxes
subsidies
regulations
sustainable development goals
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168658
work_keys_str_mv AT martinwill optionsforreducinggreenhousegasemissionsfromagricultureandfoodsystems
AT vosrob optionsforreducinggreenhousegasemissionsfromagricultureandfoodsystems