top of page

Agricultural GHG emissions estimates


"[USING IN CH2 WH10M]FAO:Crops & livestock = 5.3 billion tonnes CO2eq in 2011Net forest conversion = 2.85 billion tonnes CO2eq/yr (total is 3.8 billion tonnes; agriculture accounts for 75% of deforestation - from CGIAR - 0.75x3.8=2.85)Degraded peatlands = .15 billion tonnes CO2eq/yr (15% of the degraded peatlands related to agriculture based on "Peatlands" - original is 1 billion tonnes)Energy emission from agriculture = .785 billion tonnes CO2eq/yrTOTAL: 9.085As percent of total GHG-e: 9.085/49 billion tonnes CO2eq (total anthropogenic emissions IPCC AR5) = 0.185 x 100 = 18.5% or almost 20%[OTHER ESTIMATES]Bellarby:"The total global contribution of agriculture, considering all direct and indirect emissions, is between 8.5 –16.5 Pg CO2-eq1,2, which represents between 17 and 32% of all global human-induced GHG emissions, including land use changes (Figure 1)."CGIAR/Henry Neufeldt:19-29% entire food system14-24% agriculture (of which 30% to 50% is deforestation/land use change)14.5% livestockJonathan Foley Nature article:"Agriculture is responsible for 30–35% of global greenhouse gas emissions, largely from tropical deforestation, methane emissions from livestock and rice cultivation, and nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized soils,""Clearing tropical forests is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and is estimated to release around 1.1 3 1015 grams of carbon per year, or about 12% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions."Bellarby et al., "Cool Farming: Climate impacts of agriculture and mitigation potential," http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/re...CCAFS/CGIAR, "Food Emissions," November 2014, accessed November 11, 2014, http://ccafs.cgiar.org/bigfacts2014/#theme=food-emissions&subtheme=direc....Jonathan A. Foley et al., “Solutions for a cultivated planet,” Nature 478, (2011): 338, doi:10.1038/nature10452FAO, "Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use," October 4, 2014, accessed November 12, 2014, http://www.fao.org/resources/infographics/infographics-details/en/c/218650/.“Emissions from Forestry and Land Use,” CGIAR, accessed November 13, 2014, http://ccafs.cgiar.org/bigfacts2014/#theme=food-emissions&subtheme=indir...“Peatlands,” Climate Smart Agriculture, accessed November 13, 2014, http://www.fao.org/climate-smart-agriculture/82057/en/.

bottom of page