Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target

Eva Wollenberg; Meryl Richards; Pete Smith; Petr Havlík; Michael Obersteiner; Francesco N. Tubiello; Martin Herold; Pierre Gerber; Sarah Carter; Andrew Reisinger; Detlef P. van Vuuren; Amy Dickie; Henry Neufeldt; Björn O. Sander; Reiner Wassmann; Rolf Sommer; James E. Amonette; Alessandra Falcucci; Mario Herrero; Carolyn Opio; Rosa Maria Roman-Cuesta; Elke Stehfest; Henk Westhoek; Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio; Tek Sapkota; Mariana C. Rufino; Philip K. Thornton; Louis Verchot; Paul C. West; Jean François Soussana; Tobias Baedeker; Marc Sadler; Sonja Vermeulen; Bruce M. Campbell

doi:10.1111/gcb.13340

Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target

Eva Wollenberg^*, Meryl Richards, Pete Smith, Petr Havlík, Michael Obersteiner, Francesco N. Tubiello, Martin Herold, Pierre Gerber, Sarah Carter, Andrew Reisinger, Detlef P. van Vuuren, Amy Dickie, Henry Neufeldt, Björn O. Sander, Reiner Wassmann, Rolf Sommer, James E. Amonette, Alessandra Falcucci, Mario Herrero, Carolyn OpioRosa Maria Roman-Cuesta, Elke Stehfest, Henk Westhoek, Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, Tek Sapkota, Mariana C. Rufino, Philip K. Thornton, Louis Verchot, Paul C. West, Jean François Soussana, Tobias Baedeker, Marc Sadler, Sonja Vermeulen, Bruce M. Campbell

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector vs. how much is feasible remains poor. We identify a preliminary global target for reducing emissions from agriculture of ~1 GtCO₂e yr⁻¹ by 2030 to limit warming in 2100 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Yet plausible agricultural development pathways with mitigation cobenefits deliver only 21–40% of needed mitigation. The target indicates that more transformative technical and policy options will be needed, such as methane inhibitors and finance for new practices. A more comprehensive target for the 2 °C limit should be developed to include soil carbon and agriculture-related mitigation options. Excluding agricultural emissions from mitigation targets and plans will increase the cost of mitigation in other sectors or reduce the feasibility of meeting the 2 °C limit.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3859-3864
Number of pages	6
Journal	Global Change Biology
Volume	22
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13340
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2016

Keywords

agriculture
climate change
integrated assessment modeling
mitigation
policy
target
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

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Wollenberg, E., Richards, M., Smith, P., Havlík, P., Obersteiner, M., Tubiello, F. N., Herold, M., Gerber, P., Carter, S., Reisinger, A., van Vuuren, D. P., Dickie, A., Neufeldt, H., Sander, B. O., Wassmann, R., Sommer, R., Amonette, J. E., Falcucci, A., Herrero, M., ... Campbell, B. M. (2016). Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target. Global Change Biology, 22(12), 3859-3864. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13340

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title = "Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target",

abstract = "More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector vs. how much is feasible remains poor. We identify a preliminary global target for reducing emissions from agriculture of ~1 GtCO2e yr−1 by 2030 to limit warming in 2100 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Yet plausible agricultural development pathways with mitigation cobenefits deliver only 21–40% of needed mitigation. The target indicates that more transformative technical and policy options will be needed, such as methane inhibitors and finance for new practices. A more comprehensive target for the 2 °C limit should be developed to include soil carbon and agriculture-related mitigation options. Excluding agricultural emissions from mitigation targets and plans will increase the cost of mitigation in other sectors or reduce the feasibility of meeting the 2 °C limit.",

keywords = "agriculture, climate change, integrated assessment modeling, mitigation, policy, target, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change",

author = "Eva Wollenberg and Meryl Richards and Pete Smith and Petr Havl{\'i}k and Michael Obersteiner and Tubiello, {Francesco N.} and Martin Herold and Pierre Gerber and Sarah Carter and Andrew Reisinger and {van Vuuren}, {Detlef P.} and Amy Dickie and Henry Neufeldt and Sander, {Bj{\"o}rn O.} and Reiner Wassmann and Rolf Sommer and Amonette, {James E.} and Alessandra Falcucci and Mario Herrero and Carolyn Opio and Roman-Cuesta, {Rosa Maria} and Elke Stehfest and Henk Westhoek and Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio and Tek Sapkota and Rufino, {Mariana C.} and Thornton, {Philip K.} and Louis Verchot and West, {Paul C.} and Soussana, {Jean Fran{\c c}ois} and Tobias Baedeker and Marc Sadler and Sonja Vermeulen and Campbell, {Bruce M.}",

year = "2016",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1111/gcb.13340",

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Wollenberg, E, Richards, M, Smith, P, Havlík, P, Obersteiner, M, Tubiello, FN, Herold, M, Gerber, P, Carter, S, Reisinger, A, van Vuuren, DP, Dickie, A, Neufeldt, H, Sander, BO, Wassmann, R, Sommer, R, Amonette, JE, Falcucci, A, Herrero, M, Opio, C, Roman-Cuesta, RM, Stehfest, E, Westhoek, H, Ortiz-Monasterio, I, Sapkota, T, Rufino, MC, Thornton, PK, Verchot, L, West, PC, Soussana, JF, Baedeker, T, Sadler, M, Vermeulen, S & Campbell, BM 2016, 'Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target', Global Change Biology, vol. 22, no. 12, pp. 3859-3864. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13340

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AU - Wollenberg, Eva

AU - Richards, Meryl

AU - Smith, Pete

AU - Havlík, Petr

AU - Obersteiner, Michael

AU - Tubiello, Francesco N.

AU - Herold, Martin

AU - Gerber, Pierre

AU - Carter, Sarah

AU - Reisinger, Andrew

AU - van Vuuren, Detlef P.

AU - Dickie, Amy

AU - Neufeldt, Henry

AU - Sander, Björn O.

AU - Wassmann, Reiner

AU - Sommer, Rolf

AU - Amonette, James E.

AU - Falcucci, Alessandra

AU - Herrero, Mario

AU - Opio, Carolyn

AU - Roman-Cuesta, Rosa Maria

AU - Stehfest, Elke

AU - Westhoek, Henk

AU - Ortiz-Monasterio, Ivan

AU - Sapkota, Tek

AU - Rufino, Mariana C.

AU - Thornton, Philip K.

AU - Verchot, Louis

AU - West, Paul C.

AU - Soussana, Jean François

AU - Baedeker, Tobias

AU - Sadler, Marc

AU - Vermeulen, Sonja

AU - Campbell, Bruce M.

PY - 2016/12/1

Y1 - 2016/12/1

N2 - More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector vs. how much is feasible remains poor. We identify a preliminary global target for reducing emissions from agriculture of ~1 GtCO2e yr−1 by 2030 to limit warming in 2100 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Yet plausible agricultural development pathways with mitigation cobenefits deliver only 21–40% of needed mitigation. The target indicates that more transformative technical and policy options will be needed, such as methane inhibitors and finance for new practices. A more comprehensive target for the 2 °C limit should be developed to include soil carbon and agriculture-related mitigation options. Excluding agricultural emissions from mitigation targets and plans will increase the cost of mitigation in other sectors or reduce the feasibility of meeting the 2 °C limit.

AB - More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector vs. how much is feasible remains poor. We identify a preliminary global target for reducing emissions from agriculture of ~1 GtCO2e yr−1 by 2030 to limit warming in 2100 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Yet plausible agricultural development pathways with mitigation cobenefits deliver only 21–40% of needed mitigation. The target indicates that more transformative technical and policy options will be needed, such as methane inhibitors and finance for new practices. A more comprehensive target for the 2 °C limit should be developed to include soil carbon and agriculture-related mitigation options. Excluding agricultural emissions from mitigation targets and plans will increase the cost of mitigation in other sectors or reduce the feasibility of meeting the 2 °C limit.

KW - agriculture

KW - climate change

KW - integrated assessment modeling

KW - mitigation

KW - policy

KW - target

KW - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

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DO - 10.1111/gcb.13340

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VL - 22

SP - 3859

EP - 3864

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

IS - 12

ER -

Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target

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