Methods For Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Food Systems

This paper is the first in a series of ongoing and planned efforts to build on current knowledge and develop methodologies for estimating new components of food systems emissions, with a view to disseminate the information in FAOSTAT. It provides a methodology for estimating the GHG emissions associated with historic and current domestic food transport, in an effort to inform countries of the environmental impact of their food distribution systems. Our efforts respond to the call of the upcoming Food Systems Summit to characterize the role of food and agriculture to accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, they align well with Goal 12 to ensure “sustainable consumption and production patterns’’, specifically Target 12.2, “achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources” and Indicator 12.2.1, which monitors the “material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP” of different products.

This paper is part of a series detailing new methodologies for estimating key components of agrifood systems emissions, with a view to disseminate the information in FAOSTAT. It describes methods for estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in households, which include fossil fuel-based energy use and non-renewable (i.e. beyond sustainable wood harvesting levels) woodfuel use.

This paper is part of a series detailing new methodologies for estimating key components of agrifood systems emissions, with a view to disseminate the information in FAOSTAT. It describes methods for estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agrifood system, and in particular fluorinated gases (F-gases) from refrigeration systems in the food system cold chain, from food processing to food transport, retailing and household consumption processes. Based on the proposed methodology, we build a new database of GHG from F-gases used in the agrifood system, by country and with global coverage, for the period 1990–2021.

This paper is part of a series detailing novel methodologies for estimating key components of food systems emissions, with a view to disseminate the information in FAOSTAT. It provides a methodology for estimating the GHG emissions associated with emissions from waste in the food system (e.g., food-related processes in landfills, incineration, wastewater management processes), in an effort to inform countries of the environmental impacts and possible options to reduce them.

This paper is part of a series detailing new methodologies for estimating key components of agri-food systems emissions, with a view to disseminate the information in FAOSTAT. It describes methods for estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel-based energy use in agri-food systems processes outside agricultural land, i.e. those associated with pre- and post-production activities – in an effort to inform countries of the environmental impacts of agri-food systems and the possible options to reduce them.

​​This book provides standards and guidelines for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions and removals in smallholder agricultural systems and comparing options for climate change mitigation based on emission reductions and livelihood trade-offs. Globally, agriculture is directly responsible for about 11% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and induces an additional 17% through land use change, mostly in developing countries. Farms in the developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are predominately managed by smallholders, with 80% of land holdings smaller than ten hectares. However, little to no information exists on greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potentials in smallholder agriculture. Greenhouse gas measurements in agriculture are expensive, time consuming, and error prone, challenges only exacerbated by the heterogeneity of smallholder systems and landscapes. Concerns over methodological rigor, measurement costs, and the diversity of approaches, coupled with the demand for robust information suggest it is germane for the scientific community to establish standards of measurements for quantifying GHG emissions from smallholder agriculture. Standard guidelines for use by scientists, development organizations will help generate reliable data on emissions baselines and allow rigorous comparisons of mitigation options. The guidelines described in this book, developed by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) and partners, are intended to inform anyone conducting field measurements of agricultural greenhouse gas sources and sinks, especially to develop IPCC Tier 2 emission factors or to compare mitigation options in smallholder systems.

Global climate change is a natural process that currently appears to be strongly influenced by human activities, which increase atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG). Agriculture contributes about 20% of the world’s global radiation forcing from carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and produces 50% of the methane and 70% of the nitrous oxide of the human-induced emission. Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases synthesizes the wealth of information generated from the GRACEnet (Greenhouse gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network) effort with contributors from a variety of backgrounds, and reports findings with important international applications. Frames responses to challenges associated with climate change within the geographical domain of the U.S., while providing a useful model for researchers in the many parts of the world that possess similar ecoregions Covers not only soil C dynamics but also nitrous oxide and methane flux, filling a void in the existing literature Educates scientists and technical service providers conducting greenhouse gas research, industry, and regulators in their agricultural research by addressing the issues of GHG emissions and ways to reduce these emissions Synthesizes the data from top experts in the world into clear recommendations and expectations for improvements in the agricultural management of global warming potential as an aggregate of GHG emissions

The world's nations are moving toward agreements that will bind us together in an effort to limit future greenhouse gas emissions. With such agreements will come the need for all nations to make accurate estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and to monitor changes over time. In this context, the present book focuses on the greenhouse gases that result from human activities, have long lifetimes in the atmosphere and thus will change global climate for decades to millennia or more, and are currently included in international agreements. The book devotes considerably more space to CO2 than to the other gases because CO2 is the largest single contributor to global climate change and is thus the focus of many mitigation efforts. Only data in the public domain were considered because public access and transparency are necessary to build trust in a climate treaty. The book concludes that each country could estimate fossil-fuel CO2 emissions accurately enough to support monitoring of a climate treaty. However, current methods are not sufficiently accurate to check these self-reported estimates against independent data or to estimate other greenhouse gas emissions. Strategic investments would, within 5 years, improve reporting of emissions by countries and yield a useful capability for independent verification of greenhouse gas emissions reported by countries.