Platform Issue Paper

No. 4
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| August 2009

This Agriculture and Climate Change Issue Paper is one of a series to be produced during 2009. Platform Issues Papers are intended to share information and knowledge and advance the role of Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) for sustainable and more equitable development. The papers are designed to inform current debates and do not reflect the position of any individual member.

Agriculture and Climate Change

Why and How to Include Agriculture in a Post2012 Agreement

This note has been prepared by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (Platform)1] to support parties on the development of a post-20122] agreement that includes agriculture3]. It is NOT the formal position of any one Platform member or government, but sets out issues to be addressed in tackling the following questions: Why should agriculture be included in 2012 agreements on mitigation and adaptation? What do post-2012 agreements need to cover? What are the challenges to including agriculture in post-2012 agreements?

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Platform members come from bilateral and multilateral agencies.

Why is agriculture relevant to climate change?

The key challenge facing the world today is how to double food production to feed 9 billion people by 2050, achieve poverty reduction through agricultural growth, while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. At the same time, agriculture has to be adapted to a warmer world with more extremes of weather. The current projections of 2 to 4 degrees increases in temperatures by 2050 demonstrate the importance of maximizing every opportunity to mitigate green house gas (GHG) emissions, and putting in place effective adaptation plans. To do this we need major investments in agricultural adaptation and mitigation, and greater understanding of the impacts of climate change on agriculture.

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After the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which ends in 2012. This refers to the entire agricultural landscape, a geospatial and ecologically-based natural resource system that integrates agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock and land-use change. Parry, M.L., Rosenzweig, C., Iglesias, A., Livermore, M. and Fischer, G. 2004.Effects of climate change on global food production under SRES emissions and socioeconomic scenarios. Global Environmental Change. 14(1), 53-67. Smith, P., Martino, D., Cai, Z., Gwary, D., Janzen, H., Kumar, P., McCarl, B., Ogle, S., OMara, F., Rice, C., Scholes, B., Sirotenko, O., Howden, M., McAllister, T., Pan, G., Romanenkov, V., Schneider, U., TowPrayoon, S., Wattenbach & M., Smith, J. 2008. Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. In Philosophical Transactions. Royal Society Biological Sciences 363, pp. 789813.

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Major adverse impacts on food production and consequently food security and stability in the developing world are expected due to changes in temperatures and rainfall as well as
increased frequency of droughts and floods. The worlds poorest people, most directly dependent on agriculture, will be the hardest hit, putting an estimated 600 million more people at risk of hunger by 20804]. Decreases in crop yields due to loss of agricultural land and competition for resources, especially water, has the potential to cause large scale migration and conflict. Major investments in adapting agriculture to climate change are urgently required to build resilience and protect the poor.

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Agriculture is part of the challenge and part of the solution: Agriculture is a major emitter
of GHG and accounts for about 14% of global emissions. Furthermore, the conversion of forests to agriculture is a major factor causing deforestation which accounts for an additional 17% of global emissions. When emissions due to land use changes are included, a substantial proportion of total agricultural emissions come from developing countries. Set against this is the potential of agriculture, through better land management and agricultural practices, to mitigate and reduce emissions by up to 88% of agricultures total annual emissions, with about 70% of this coming from developing countries5].

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There is potential for developing win-win scenarios by promoting agricultural systems and practices that both enhance food security and livelihoods for the poor and also have reduced net 1

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GHG emissions. Agriculture needs to be part of any new mitigation mechanisms under post-2012 agreements so that developing countries and poor people can benefit from increased investment in agriculture a potential double dividend. It is also important to note that recent empirical evidence highlights the increased vulnerability of standing forests (from fires and pests) causing them to flip from carbon sinks to carbon sources as global temperatures rise. This evidence is a strong reason for negotiators to consider ALL possible carbon sequestration and mitigations options available especially the soil carbon sinks that are relatively easier to manage than aboveground biomass (Phillips, 2009 and IUFRO, 2009).

The mitigation potential of agriculture

Many agricultural mitigation opportunities use current technologies and practices, and can therefore be implemented immediately. Presently eligible projects under the existing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) framework include the following:

Reducing nitrous oxide emissions through improved soil and efficient nitrogen fertilizer management and reduced fossil fuel energy requirements for nitrogen fertilizer manufacture: Nitrous oxide is 310 times more potent than carbon dioxide and two out of every three bags of nitrogen fertilizer applied to rice6] fields may be lost. Also, it takes four barrels of oil to produce one ton of urea.

Reducing methane (72 times more potent than carbon dioxide7]) emissions from flooded rice systems: With further refinement, new rice varieties coupled with improved nutrient, soil, and water management knowledge could significantly reduce methane emissions as well as allow costeffective metrics monitoring.

Reducing methane emission from ruminant livestock systems: Mitigation opportunities

include new ways to manage forage quality and make available rumen methane inhibitors; both biological and chemical that have shown promise under test conditions but need further refinement and scaling up. Increasing livestock productivity can also help to reduce emissions and discourage expansion of ranching into forested areas. However, there are additional opportunities for reducing/mitigating GHGs in agriculture through:

Enhancing agricultural (soil and aboveground biomass) carbon sequestration in production landscapes: The omission of agricultural soil and woody biomass carbon sequestration from the CDM was a major missed opportunity to engage developing country farmers and the rural poor in improved agricultural and natural resource management practices to mitigate climate change. Allowing soil carbon and agricultural/agroforestry biomass to be eligible for CDM payments could result in a significant incentive for smallholders not to burn biomass and crop residue/manure for energy or field clearing. The burning of biomass mines carbon from agricultural and forestry landscapes, generates black carbon (soot) a potent global warming agent, significantly increases respiratory illnesses of women and children, and has been shown to directly increase glacier melt in the Himalayas (Ramanathan and Carmichael, 20088]). Examples of agricultural practices that have great potential to sequester carbon are conservation agriculture (including soil conservation practices), and low canopy agroforestry systems.
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What do post-Kyoto agreements need to cover?

The post-2012 agreements and actions should be strengthened to achieve the following objectives: To deliver substantial emission reductions through agriculture; To increase carbon sequestration through better land and water management; To recognize the potential of agricultural management practices and land uses to generate multiple benefits for mitigation, sustainable agricultural development, food security and adaptation; and

Food crop for 50% of the worlds population. Based on averaging impacts over 20 years. Nature Geoscience 1, 221 - 227 (2008) Global and regional climate changes due to black carbon.

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To ensure that the needs and the role of poor people and small holder farmers are taken into account in the future agreements.

A POST-2012 AGREEMENT SHOULD CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

That the co-benefits of adaptation and mitigation in agriculture should be recognized and rewarded. Also, advocacy for increased North-South-South cooperation for transferring knowledge and technologies to support adaptation in the agricultural sector, whilst generating mitigation benefits be undertaken. That a reform of the CDM is needed in a way that: any post-2012 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) be expanded to include soil and aboveground carbon in agriculture; the CDM measurement methodology requirements be changed to enable the inclusion of agriculture, forestry and other land uses (AFOLU) more broadly, and to facilitate developing country smallholder famers access to the benefits that derive from inclusion; research to develop simple and effective methodologies that would enable inclusion of AFOLU into a revised CDM be undertaken. That appropriate strategies and measures to develop, finance and implement adaptation are required; and, consequently: That agriculture is explicitly included as a priority sector for adaptation and adequate funding is channeled to this sector; That ideally sectoral approaches should be allowed (e.g. building a small scale irrigation system would be a direct adaptation expenditure, and support to national research programs and extension systems would be a sectoral approach). That agriculture is part of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) in developing countries. That investments in adaptation to climate change through any financing instruments of multi-lateral and bilateral institutions are based on country development priorities.

What are the challenges to including agriculture in post-Kyoto agreements?

The CDM as currently defined has only a narrow window of eligible projects under Agriculture9]. Furthermore, the eligible CDM projects in the Land Use category include only aboveground carbon sequestration via reforestation and afforestation. Agriculture has been largely excluded from the Kyoto agreement and the CDM for a number of reasons including: Lack of focus on the significance of agricultural GHG emissions and potential of improved agricultural management practices to sequester carbon Incomplete information and understanding on the severity of the impacts of climate change on agriculture, food security and hunger The complexity of agriculture, different farming systems, 100s millions of farmers and the concomitant difficulties this attaches to the task of integrating these systems into mitigation plans.
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Currently eligible projects include: energy efficiency improvements or switching to less carbon intensive energy sources for water pumps (irrigation); methane reductions in rice cultivation; reducing animal waste or using produced animal waste for energy generation (see also under methane recovery); and any other changes in agricultural practices resulting in the reduction of any category of greenhouse gas emissions.

Challenges of measuring, monitoring and verifying soil and biomass carbon in agriculture. The latest IPCC reports and other scientific publications have clearly demonstrated the significance of agricultural GHG emissions, and the severity of the potential impacts on the agricultural sector. The case for post-2012 agreements is clear, so what are the remaining challenges to including agriculture in post-2012 agreements? On adaptation, the main challenges are to develop, finance and implement appropriate strategies and measures. Challenges remain in relation to mitigation as well, but over the last decade we have come to know much more, enabling us to respond as discussed below.

Simplification of CDM Principles, while Strengthening Capabilities

Complex methodologies have so far been an obstacle to effective implementation, not only of already eligible projects but also of expand agricultural soil and biomass carbon measures (measures that

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go beyond afforestation/reforestation) in the CDM. Although activities resulting in the reduction of methane and nitrous oxide from agriculture are potentially eligible for the CDM, questions on reliably and cost-effectively measuring these GHG emissions and reductions meant that very few projects have been implemented. In the land use category, not only was soil carbon and aboveground agricultural carbon outside the definition of the land use activities and therefore NOT eligible, but complex definitions, baseline development requirements, and monitoring methodologies for the forest sink activities made these activities impossible for most developing countries to implement. Furthermore, to earn credits under the CDM, the project proponent must prove and have verified that the GHGs reductions are real, measurable and additional to what would have occurred in the absence of the project. Lack of capacity and capital for upfront expenses (investment and transaction costs) in most developing countries further limits their CDM efforts. Simplification of measurement methodologies to ensure that developing countries and smallholder farmers benefit is both achievable and necessary, while monitoring and verification capabilities must be strengthened.

Measuring, Monitoring and Verifying Soil and Biomass Carbon

Measurement, modeling, monitoring and verification procedures on GHG reduction/removal, including through soil carbon sequestration, have advanced greatly in the last decade. There is an opportunity to better address the obstacles that affected negotiations on soil carbon inclusion into the CDM and which could affect the inclusion of AFOLU. These obstacles include: additionality, verification, leakage, permanence and particularly scale. The further development of simplified measurement methodologies, including possibly benchmarking and acceptance of programmatic or sectoral approaches to full carbon accounting would fast track this work, and enable a mechanism to be developed under post-2012 agreements.

Opening the way for agriculture

While it is clear that continued work on a long term, comprehensive and effective approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation through agriculture, in a post-2012 setting is necessary, and there is an emerging consensus that agriculture should be part of post 2012 agreements there is still much work to do on determining the best mechanisms to achieve this.

For further reading and updates please visit:

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