Monday 18 June 2018

Agriculture can deliver 30% of climate solutions by 2030, says WWF

The agricultural sector can deliver up to 30% of the climate solutions needed by 2030.

That’s according to a new WWF-led initiative, which suggests the industry plays a key role in climate action – both in avoiding heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Around 95% of countries are said to have included the agricultural sector in their national climate action plans under the Paris Agreement.

The initiative, called the ‘30x30 Forests, Food and Land Challenge’ covers the areas of forest and habitat conservation, food production and consumption and land use across all sectors of the economy.

WWF suggests businesses, state and local agencies, scientists and other stakeholders can meet this challenge by taking concrete action to halve food loss and waste and sequester one gigaton of carbon per year in forests and other natural and working lands.

It adds they can also enable better production of food and fibre by unlocking finance, providing tools to increase transparency and fostering public-private collaboration.

Manuel Pulgar Vidal, Head of WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Practice said: “To curb climate change, we must address the second-greatest source of emissions: our use of land.

“By taking concrete action, businesses and local leaders can also encourage national governments to more aggressively reduce carbon emissions using every resource available, including trees, grasses and soil.”