Options to achieve net - zero emissions from agriculture and land use changes in Latin America and the Caribbean

Patrice Dumas (), Stefan Wirsenius (), Tim Searchinger, Nadine Andrieu () and Adrien Vogt-Schilb
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Patrice Dumas: CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Cirad-ES - Département Environnements et Sociétés - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement
Stefan Wirsenius: Agriculture Flagship - CSIRO - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [Australia], Chalmers University of Technology [Göteborg]
Tim Searchinger: Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs - Princeton University
Nadine Andrieu: UMR Innovation - Innovation et Développement dans l'Agriculture et l'Alimentation - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Cirad-ES - Département Environnements et Sociétés - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement
Adrien Vogt-Schilb: The World Bank - The World Bank

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Abstract: Eleven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have pledged to reach net-zero emissions by around 2050. Changes in the food system are key to reach these carbon neutrality goals, as agriculture and resulting land-use changes are responsible for almost half of greenhouse gas emissions in the region. We quantify the effect of supply-side (e.g., yield improvements, silvopasture, agroforestry) and demand-side (e.g., reduction of waste and losses, changing diets) options to reduce emissions and transform the land use system in a net carbon sink by 2050 while improving nutrition for the growing population. We consider both direct agriculture emissions and the pressure that food production puts on land use changes, and track separately emissions that happen in the region and emissions linked to trade. Our findings confirm that cattle plays a preponderant role, emitting nearly 60% of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land-use change. Reaching a net-negative emissions food system able to balance emissions from the rest of the economy will require ambitious and sustained improvements in yields and changes in diets to moderate the increasing demand for beef, continuously decrease the share of land dedicated to agriculture, and increase instead land dedicated to carbon sequestration and biodiversity preservation.

Keywords: Agriculture; Forestry and Other Land Use; AFOLU; food; yields; diets; decarbonization; carbon neutrality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-08-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-env
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03760573v1
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Published in Interamerican development bank working paper, 2022, 1377, ⟨10.18235/0004427⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03760573

DOI: 10.18235/0004427

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