Herd of cattle in Colombia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.
Eating less beef, cutting food waste, and utilizing farm landscapes to sequester carbon are three ways a new report suggests the world could rapidly tackle agricultural emissions. Currently, global agriculture accounts for nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions when agriculturally-linked deforestation is included. But the new report, from Climate Focus and California Environmental Associates, finds that implementing 12 strategies—largely focused on the U.S., China, Brazil, India, and the EU—could cut agricultural emissions by 50-90 percent in just 16 years while still feeding a growing global population.
“There are so many ways in which policymakers can help farmers boost productivity while mitigating climate change,” co-author Charlotte Streck of Climate Focus, said. “We need to dispel the notion, once and for all, that productivity and sustainability can’t work hand in hand.”
One of the 12 strategies focuses on shifting global diets, notably getting Americans to eat less beef while encouraging the Chinese to refrain from adding beef to their diet. According to the report, the production of beef alone represents a hefty 35 percent of agricultural emissions.
“There’s no way around it,” explained Streck. “Cows are incredibly inefficient food sources. They eat an enormous amount of feed and require a lot of land and water resources. Pigs, chickens and sustainably caught or raised fish, not to mention non-meat proteins are so much better for the climate—and healthier for people as well.”
Livestock versus crop emissions. Graph courtesy of Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture. Click to enlarge.
While per capita beef consumption is declining in the U.S. from a high of nearly 90 pounds annually in 1976, the report finds that “the U.S. still consumes the highest amount of meat per capita of any major economy, more than double what is considered appropriate for a healthy diet.”
Policies that shift Americans from beef to other meat or non-meat protein sources could have a major impact on mitigating climate change, according to the report. The challenge may prove even easier in China: experts predict that red meat consumption will jump over 100 percent in China by 2050. But the report’s authors argue it doesn’t have to be this way.
“Because China already has a climate-friendly diet and hasn’t yet embraced beef, it’s still possible to discourage the consumption of more beef without changing the country’s traditional beliefs and culture,” said co-author Amy Dickie with California Environmental Associates. “Steering the Chinese diet in a more climate-friendly direction would yield enormous benefits for the country’s health and food security—as well as the global climate.”
Cutting food waste is another way to slash emissions and better feed a growing population, according to the report. The FAO estimates that around one third of the world’s food is never consumed, but instead lost in transit or intentionally thrown away after it reaches retailers and consumers. Other estimates have put this number closer to 50 percent. Either way, wasted food comes with a massive global warming impact.
“The carbon footprint of food wastage is estimated at 3.3 [gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent], making it the third largest source of emissions after China and the U.S.,” reads the report. Wasted food also exacerbates freshwater scarcity, land and water pollution, and food insecurity. In fact, drastically curbing food loss and waste could also go a long way toward feeding a growing planet.
The huge impact of food waste and loss. Graph courtesy of Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture. Click to enlarge.
“Simplistically calculated, cutting current food wastage levels in half has the potential to close the 70 percent gap of food needed to meet 2050 demand by roughly 22 percent, potentially making the reduction of food wastage a leading strategy in achieving global food security,” reads the report.
The report recommends that the U.S. and EU take a hard look at their “sell by” and “best by” dates in order to stop consumers from throwing away perfectly-edible food, and combat a widespread policy in many grocery stores where food is discarded if it doesn’t meet certain aesthetic standards, such as shape in color. Meanwhile, both China and the U.S. should tackle oversized portions in restaurants and catering.
“In [Chinese] university canteens, one third of food purchased is wasted, and in urban residences, food waste has increased four-fold since the 1980s,” reads the report.
Meanwhile, food loss could be curbed in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia with better cooling and storage practices.
A third recommendation from the report looks at the potential for agricultural landscapes to store more carbon in soils, crops, and trees. According to the report, farmlands could sequester between 700 and 1,600 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030.
“There is a justified concern from a sizable segment of the scientific community that an over-emphasis on the benefits of soil carbon sequestration may detract from other measures in the agricultural sector which are at least as effective in combating climate change,” reads the report. “However, most practices that increase the carbon content in agricultural soils are good agricultural practices anyway and lead to increased yields and water retention.”
Recommendations include supporting biochar, planting trees in Brazil’s massive cattle pastures, focusing on soil carbon in sub-Saharan Africa, and increased research on carbon sequestration in agriculture landscapes.
“Agriculture is the largest cause of deforestation worldwide,” Dickie said. “Improvements to agricultural practices, as we’ve highlighted in this report, have so many benefits, including a reduction in deforestation and pollution of waterways.”
Big emitters: high emission sources by country. Graph courtesy of Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture. Click to enlarge.
12 recommendation from the report: Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture
- 1. Intensify agriculture land use in a sustainable manner
- 2. Improve management of nitrogen fertilizers
- 3. Manage ruminants (cows, buffalo, goats, and sheep) more efficiently
- 4. Increase carbon sequestration in agricultural landscapes
- 5. Cut methane emissions from rice production
- 6. Better manage manure
- 7. Cut food waste and loss
- 8. Shift global diets away from beef and other ruminants
- 9. Reform subsidies and trade
- 10. Redirect agriculture financing towards mitigating emissions
- 11. Use corporate supply chains to support low carbon agriculture
- 12. Better track emissions from agriculture
Global sources for mitigating agricultural emissions. Graph courtesy of Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture. Click to enlarge.
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