Agriculture and Climate: Economics and Policy Issues
By Anne-Marie Codur, Jonathan M. Harris and Kayleigh Fay
There is increasing evidence that ambitious goals to mitigate climate change, such as those set for by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change cannot be met without a substantial contribution from increased absorption of carbon dioxide by soils, forests and wetlands. This module focuses on the agricultural sector, while a companion module deals with forests and wetlands.
Soil plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Approximately 2,000 gigatons of carbon is stored in the world’s soils. There is more carbon stored in soil than in plants and the atmosphere combined. But there is also significant potential for further carbon storage in soil, which could have a major effect in reducing net emissions of carbon to the atmosphere. While the global agricultural system is now a major net contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, it could be transformed into a climate solution through the adoption of regenerative agricultural techniques, including restorative grazing.
This module offers a detailed analysis of the role of the potential for transforming agriculture, including the “4 per 1000” initiative to capture carbon as a climate change mitigation strategy, at the same time enhancing soil fertility and agricultural yields to address global food security. In conjunction with the Paris Agreement goals for reducing industrial emissions, a scenario including full implementation of agricultural soil carbon storage as well as comprehensive forest protection and reforestation could reduce global emissions to net zero by 2040. The module concludes that strengthening industrial emissions reduction efforts remains crucial, but will not be enough without substantial additional carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, forests and wetlands.