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<\/p>\nThe AFOLU sector (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use) is responsible for about 13\u201322% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. This range results from different calculation methods and includes both direct agriculture and land use changes such as deforestation and peatland drainage.
\nWhat is included in the AFOLU sector?
\nDirect agriculture:
\n– Livestock: Methane emissions from digestion and manure
\n– Crop production and soil management: CO\u2082 emissions from plowing and soil disturbance
\n– Fertilizers: Nitrous oxide (N\u2082O) from mineral and organic fertilization
\n– Rice cultivation: Methane emissions from flooded fields<\/p>\n
Land use and land use change (LULUCF):
\n– Deforestation and forest conversion
\n– Peatland drainage
\n– Land conversion for arable farming
\n– Forestry<\/p>\n
By greenhouse gas:
\nCO\u2082: 68.5% of AFOLU emissions (mainly from deforestation and soil management)
\nMethane (CH\u2084): About 14.5% from livestock and 7% from rice cultivation
\nNitrous oxide (N\u2082O): 17% mainly from fertilizers
\nMajor sources of emissions:
\nDeforestation: 45% of all AFOLU gross emissions
\nLivestock: 31% of direct agricultural emissions
\nCrop production: 27% of direct agricultural emissions<\/p>\n
Plowing releases CO\u2082 from soils, but emissions are not as high as some headlines suggest. Scientifically, about 3 tons of CO\u2082 are released per hectare per plowing.
\nGlobally, 867 million hectares are intensively plowed (about 54% of the world\u2019s arable land).
\nGlobal CO\u2082 emissions from plowing: about 2.6 billion tons of CO\u2082 per year\u2014about 6% of global CO\u2082 emissions.
\nThe rest of the arable land is used differently:
\nNo-till and reduced tillage: In many countries, plowing is already avoided or reduced. In South America, no-till is widespread (e.g., Argentina 80%, Paraguay 90%, Uruguay 82%, Brazil 50%), in the USA, about 78% of farmers use reduced or no tillage and in Europe, the share is about 25%.
\nPermanent crops: 12% of the world’s arable land is used for permanent crops such as fruit, wine, olives, or coffee. These areas are not plowed.
\nRice cultivation: 10% of the world’s arable land is rice fields, which are flooded and therefore not plowed.
\nFallow and temporary pasture: Some areas lie fallow or are used as pasture and are not part of intensive soil management.<\/p>\n
Peatlands store more than 500 gigatons of carbon\u2014twice as much as all the world\u2019s forests combined. When drained, they become CO\u2082 sources:
\nDrained peatlands worldwide: 2 billion tons of CO\u2082 equivalents per year
\nShare of global emissions: 4%
\nAnnual destruction: 500,000 hectares of intact peatlands<\/p>\n
Dramatic soil loss and degradation
\n52% of all soils worldwide are already degraded
\nBy 2050, 90% of all soils could be degraded
\nAnnual soil loss: 12.34 tons per hectare per year
\nCarbon loss: 218 kg of carbon per hectare per year<\/p>\n
115 countries have pledged to restore one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030.
\nRestoration potential:
\nCO\u2082 sequestration: 3\u20138 billion tons of CO\u2082 per year possible
\nEconomic benefit: Up to $1.8 trillion annually<\/p>\n
Global forest loss: 30 million hectares (new record)
\nCO\u2082 release from forest loss: 3.1 billion tons of CO\u2082
\nTropical rainforests: 6.7 million hectares of primary forest destroyed
\nFor comparison:
\nTo offset the annual CO\u2082 sequestration lost from the 30 million hectares of primary forest, 2.45 billion hectares of young forest would need to be planted\u2014equivalent to 17% of the Earth’s total land area. This shows: protecting primary forests is irreplaceable.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
South America: High no-till adoption, but also large-scale deforestation for soy and cattle.
\nEurope: Many soils are threatened by intensive agriculture. 23\u201344% of EU and UK arable land is at risk of losing organic carbon.
\nAfrica, Asia, North America: Large differences in land use, but everywhere there is a trend towards more sustainable methods.
\nGermany: Agriculture causes 53\u201354 million tons of CO\u2082 equivalents per year, mainly from livestock and fertilizers.
\nEU: Agriculture contributes about 10.8% to greenhouse gas emissions; LULUCF can even act as a sink.<\/p>\n
No-till and reduced tillage: Significantly reduce CO\u2082 emissions from soil.
\nPeatland restoration: Stops the emission of 2 billion tons of CO\u2082 per year.
\nProtection of existing primary forests: Prevents another 3.1 billion tons of CO\u2082 emissions.
\nRestoration of degraded land: 3\u20138 billion tons of CO\u2082 per year sequestration potential.
\nAgriculture as a solution: Sustainable practices can sequester as much CO\u2082 by 2050 as planting new forests.<\/p>\n
Agriculture and land use are a central factor in climate change, accounting for 13\u201322% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Plowing contributes about 2.6 billion tons of CO\u2082 per year, but not all arable land is intensively managed. Many countries are already adopting sustainable methods such as no-till, peatland restoration, and forest protection.
\nOnly by globally adopting sustainable agriculture and protecting natural CO\u2082 sinks can we effectively combat climate change.<\/p>\n
Become a guardian of the Earth and tell others about it!
\nFind more information in our Guardian of the Earth blog.<\/p>\n
Author: Francesco del Orbe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Facts and Solutions The AFOLU sector (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use) is responsible for about 13\u201322% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. This range results from different calculation methods and includes both direct agriculture and land use changes such as deforestation and peatland drainage. What is included in the AFOLU sector? Direct agriculture: –…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":23338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,185,605,602],"tags":[261,253,254,263,307,267,260,255,264,265,252,250,259,262,268,308,207,266],"class_list":["post-23337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-climate-and-environment","category-europe-and-the-world","category-forest-and-trees","tag-biodiversity","tag-carbonneutral","tag-climate-action","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-farm","tag-climate-protection","tag-co2-binding","tag-earth-guardian","tag-ecosystem","tag-farming","tag-francesco-del-orbe","tag-fresopolis","tag-healthy-soil","tag-microclimate","tag-planting","tag-regenerative-agricultura","tag-sustainability","tag-sustainable"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n