From the sky down: Managing land use and soils towards net zero emissions

"From the sky down: Managing land use and soils towards net zero emissions" was an introduction by moderator Lini Wollenberg at the January 25, 2022 Berlin Federal Ministry of Food & Agriculture and the Global Forum for Food & Agriculture -- session organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. She covered strategies to augment the world's terrestrial carbon sinks

How our food choices affect the climate

"How food choices affect the climate" was presented by Lini Wollenberg, given for the Frontiers Sustainability Speaker Series on January 13, 2022. She summarizes various food systems' emissions contributions and discusses the scaling up of plant-based meat. Additional attached resources include the CCAFS AgLED website, the ACE Calculator, Our World in Data, and FAO emission intensity and food systems data

Lessons from 11 years of CCAFS: Lessons to support the methane pledge

"Why agriculture and trade matter in GHG mitigation pathways", presented by Lini Wollenberg for the OECD - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Virtual Workshop. From "Mitigating GHG Emissions in Agriculture in an Interconnected World" on April 11-12 2022. This presentation covers the elements of a global strategy, priorities for coordinated action, IPCC, and global food systems emissions. Additional resources listed are the CCAFS AgLED website, Agrochain emissions calculator (ACE), Our World in Data, and FAO emission intensity and food systems data

Lessons from 11 years of CCAFS low-emissions development research

Lessons from 11 years of CCAFS Low-Emissions Development Research was presented by Lini Wollenberg at a USAID Research Webinar on June 27, 2022. Additional resources, include the CCAFS AgLED website, the Agrochain Emissions Calculator (ACE), Our World in Data, and FAO emission intensity and food systems data

Evaluating ambition for soil organic carbon sequestration and protection in nationally determined contributions

Increased international attention on agricultural soil organic carbon (SOC) has raised expectations of its potential contribution to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Yet, debate on what is achievable and how to monitor or verify improvement in SOC has challenged progress. Since SOC is the primary terrestrial carbon pool, specification of SOC targets, policies and measures in agriculture may be pivotal to achieving global climate change targets, and thus appropriate to include in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions

This report summarizes a global review of digital resources relevant to climate change-informed agroecological transitions. The goal of the review was to identify exemplary features of digital tools for socially inclusive and climate-informed agroecological transitions. We cataloged digital resources available globally that provided either technical advisory services or performance assessment, as functions that directly support scaling up new practices. We reviewed the tools’ functions (i.e., the purpose of using a tool) against indicators for exemplary features (i.e., the channels through which a user can engage with the tool). To address social inclusion, we gave special attention to farmers’ co-creation of knowledge for on-the-ground practices

Framework for rapid country-level analysis of AFOLU mitigation options

Mitigation in the agricultural sector is critical to meeting the 2 ̊C target set by the Paris Agreement. Recent analysis indicates that land-based mitigation can potentially contribute about 30% of the reduction is needed to reach the 2030 target. However, action to reduce emissions from the agricultural sector has lagged behind other sectors. Action and investment in agriculture have been constrained by a lack of policy-relevant and science-based methods estimating GHG emissions and mitigation potential that contribute to decision making. In this paper, we present a framework for a rapid country-level scientific assessment of emissions and mitigation potential from the agricultural, forestry and other land-use (AFOLU) sector. The framework sets targets for AFOLU mitigation based on local agro- environmental conditions, mitigation options best fitted for those conditions and stakeholder input. It relies on the use of simple models or tools to estimate emissions at the farm gate using a mix of Tier 1, Tier 2 and simple Tier 3 methods under baseline, business-as-usual (BAU) and mitigation scenarios. The mitigation potential of low-emissions agriculture options is determined relative to a baseline or BAU scenario. The framework also enables examining the likely level of implementation of low-emission options. This includes assessing the cost and additional benefits of applying the identified low- emission options across different jurisdictions of interest. The feasibility of these options, assessment of institutional capacity for scaling and identification of barriers and risks of adoption to identify priorities are also determined. This information is used by stakeholders and experts to develop a road map for implementation. Rapid assessment of national mitigation potentials can help countries to assess their Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDC) targets and prioritize mitigation options for achieving the targets and monitor progress towards their achievement. Spatially explicit information helps countries plan implementation at subnational levels

Agroecology and climate change rapid evidence review: Performance of agroecological approaches in low- and middle- income countries

Agroecology is increasingly seen as being able, or even necessary, to transform food systems (HLPE 2019). The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) commissioned this rapid evidence-based review to assess the quality and strength of evidence regarding (i) the impact of agroecological approaches on climate change mitigation and adaptation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and (ii) the programming approaches and conditions supporting large-scale transitions to agroecology and transitions. The review also aims to identify knowledge gaps critical to understand and inform future public and private investment in research, development, and deployment of agroecological approaches. The focus here is on the science of agroecology at the field and landscape level, not on social movement, value chain or business aspects. We use the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 10 elements of agroecology with the Gliessman (2016) framework to identify agroecology practices (transition level 2) and agroecology systems (transition level 3). To assess evidence related to agroecology‘s climate change outcomes we conducted a systematic literature review of i) synthesis papers and ii) primary empirical studies related to nutrient and pest and disease management. For the latter we documented the presence of evidence for climate change outcome indicators, but not the magnitude or direction of the change. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with representatives from 12 organizations supporting or implementing on-the-ground agricultural development programmes to better understand the feasibility of scaling out agroecology