Huge benefits to be reaped from net zero investment in agrifood

The world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food production without damaging the economy or exacerbating hunger, according to a study from the World Bank. The report says that the transformation that needs to take place is currently affordable, and could quickly become profitable if subsidies on fossil fuels are removed. Further, the report, Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System, states that the sector’s options for tackling climate change are the most cost-effective of any sector.

The agrifood sector contributes just under a third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – this is more than all of the world’s heat and electricity emissions. It also has a huge potential to have a positive impact on climate change by drawing carbon from the atmosphere through ecosystems and soils.

The study says that the payoffs for investing in cutting agrifood emissions are estimated to be much bigger than the costs. Although it is estimated that investment needs to increase 18-fold to $260bn/year to halve current agrifood GHG emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050, the benefits in health, economic, and environmental terms could be as much as $4.3tn in 2030. That is a 16 to 1 return on investment.

Different pathways for reaching net zero agrifood emissions are plotted for high-, middle- and low-income countries. 

• High-income countries should do more to promote renewable energy in the agrifood sector and shift to more sustainable diets. They should also use their resources to better support low- and middle-income countries to adopt low-emission agrifood practices;
• Middle-income countries can reduce emissions from livestock and rice, invest in healthy soils, and cut food loss and waste. These countries hold three quarters of the opportunities to reduce emissions in a cost-effective way; and
• Low-income countries should focus on green growth and preserving and restoring forests. 

The report also notes that taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the agrifood system will: 

• make food supplies more secure; 
• help our food system better withstand climate change; and 
• ensure that vulnerable people are not harmed by the transition.

Read Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System here.

Also released this week Drawdown Food.