PxD and IGSD are partnering on an initiative to collaboratively identify opportunities for innovation in climate change mitigation, particularly for the greenhouse gases most problematic in agricultural production, methane, and nitrous oxide, as well as carbon dioxide. This initiative includes four analytical pieces on the opportunities for climate change mitigation by smallholder farmers.
Methane is second only to carbon dioxide in its contribution to global warming, and accounts for about half of the temperature increase of human-induced global warming (0.51 °C out of the present 1.06 °C). Strong, rapid, and sustained methane reductions are key to slowing warming in the next two decades, thereby reducing the risks of triggering self-amplifying feedbacks (such as thawing of the permafrost in the Arctic) and of crossing irreversible tipping points (including loss of tropical reefs, the Amazon rainforest, the Greenland Ice Sheet, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet). Growing recognition of the urgency to reduce methane emissions has propelled over 150 countries to endorse the Global Methane Pledge, which sets a collective target to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Achieving this target would reduce warming by at least 0.2 °C by 2050 and keep the planet on a pathway consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The focus of this brief is on identifying methane mitigation approaches currently suitable for implementation in smallholder farmer and pastoralist contexts.
PxD and IGSD are partnering on an initiative to collaboratively identify opportunities for innovation in climate change mitigation, particularly for the greenhouse gases most problematic in agricultural production, methane, and nitrous oxide, as well as carbon dioxide. This initiative includes four analytical pieces on the opportunities for climate change mitigation by smallholder farmers.
The agriculture and food system sector is a significant emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), primarily methane – associated with livestock and rice production – and nitrous oxide – most directly associated with nitrogen fertilizers, animal manure, and biological nitrogen fixation. There is, however, potential for agriculture to contribute to climate change mitigation. By leveraging the natural role of plants and soils in the cycling of organic carbon, agricultural land can act as a carbon sink through interventions for carbon sequestration like conservation agriculture. Studies estimate a technical potential of soils in global cropland and pasture land to store 2–5 Gt CO2 per year.
PxD and IGSD are partnering on an initiative to collaboratively identify opportunities for innovation in climate change mitigation, particularly for the greenhouse gases most problematic in agricultural production, methane and nitrous oxide, as well as carbon dioxide. This initiative includes four analytical pieces on the opportunities for climate change mitigation by smallholder famers, starting with carbon dioxide sequestration through enhanced rock weathering. Enhanced rock, or silicate, weathering (ERW) is a developing technology which leverages natural mineral weathering to draw carbon from the atmosphere.
The analysis found ERW’s potential for permanent carbon drawdown and agricultural co-benefits makes it an attractive mitigation strategy, particularly in equator and near-equator geographies like the Global South, where there are ideal soil pH, temperature, and moisture conditions for the technology. However, because ERW is a new technology that is still being tested and has yet to be studied in Global South contexts, there remain critical uncertainties around its safety, carbon sequestration potential, probable benefits to farmers, and feasibility. All of these factors must be addressed in order to move the technology forward.
PxD and IGSD are partnering on an initiative to collaboratively identify opportunities for innovation in climate change mitigation, particularly for the greenhouse gases most problematic in agricultural production, methane, and nitrous oxide, as well as carbon dioxide. This initiative includes four analytical pieces on the opportunities for climate change mitigation by smallholder farmers.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is both an ozone-depleting substance that damages the stratospheric ozone layer and one of the most potent greenhouse gases (GHGs) contributing to global climate change. As with almost all GHG emissions linked to anthropogenic processes, N2O emissions have increased significantly in recent decades. Agriculture is the main driver for these increases,11 with up to 71% of the increase in emissions from the 1980s to 2007-2016 coming from direct agricultural emissions. In particular, scientists have pointed to the use of nitrogen fertilizer as a key reason for the increasing N2 O atmospheric burden. Most smallholder farmers rely on their own judgment or blanket nitrogen fertilizer recommendations, which can miss critical variations in soil and crop nitrogen needs. Offering farmers in the Global South an accessible and user-friendly way to use nitrogen more efficiently will thus not only help reduce the environmental impact of the use of nitrogen fertilizer in agriculture but also improve farmers’ productivity and profits. Addressing the precision nutrient management gap for smallholder farmers in the Global South is a critical priority for achieving both anti-poverty and climate change goals, especially as the use of nitrogen fertilizer in Global South countries rises in coming years to meet increasing global food demands.
