Climate change mitigation
Agriculture has been shown to contribute to climate change, primarily through the production and release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, and also by altering the earth's land cover.
Mitigation means reducing sources or enhancing sinks of GHG
In the context of climate change, mitigation refers to a human intervention to reduce the "sources" of greenhouse gases or enhance the "sinks" to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Climate change mitigation in agriculture includes measures that prevent greenhouse gas emissions such as reducing energy demand and using biomass energy and other alternative energy sources. Other measures increase carbon storage by reducing land clearing, avoiding deforestation, afforestation, improving soil, and crop and grazing land management. Offset measures include planting trees to capture carbon dioxide.
Look for synergies between mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development
There is no simple or ready-made solution that can be applied to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases in agriculture. This complex processes and competing objectives require careful analysis of biophysical system feedbacks and societal interactions. There is a growing understanding of the possibilities to choose and implement mitigation options in agriculture sector to realize synergies and avoid conflicts with other dimensions of sustainable development. Mitigation technologies and policies in agriculture should encourage synergies with sustainable development and adaptation to climate change, thereby overcoming barriers to implementation and help poverty alleviation and food security.
| Sector | Key mitigation technologies and practices currently commercially available. | Key mitigation technologies and practices projected to be commercialised before 2030 | Policies, measures and instruments shown to be environmentally effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | Improved crop and grazing land management to increase soil carbon storage; restoration of cultivated peaty soils and degraded lands; improved rice cultivation techniques and livestock and manure management to reduce CH4 emissions; improved nitrogen fertiliser application techniques to reduce N2O emissions; dedicated energy crops to replace fossil fuel use; improved energy efficiency | Improvements of crop yields | Financial incentives and regulations for improved land management, maintaining soil carbon content, efficient use of fertilisers and irrigation |
| Forestry | Afforestation; reforestation; forest management; reduced deforestation; harvested wood product management; use of forestry products for bioenergy to replace fossil fuel use | Tree species improvement to increase biomass productivity and carbon sequestration. Improved remote sensing technologies for analysis of vegetation/ soil carbon sequestration potential and mapping land use change | Financial incentives (national and international) to increase forest area, to reduce deforestation, and to maintain and manage forests; Land-use regulation and enforcement |
FAO promotes a wide range of adaptation options for agriculture, forestry and fisheries which at the same time contribute to mitigation. Among these are reduction of deforestation, better control of wildfires, improving nutrition for ruminant livestock, more efficient management of livestock waste, improved pasture management, organic agriculture, agro-forestry systems and the sustainable production of bioenergy for heat and power.
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last updated: Friday, October 3, 2008