Climate and Clean Air Conference: Science Policy Dialogue

Day 1, Breakout Session 4 

Despite the high proportion of emissions from the agriculture sector, the Global Methane Assessment (GMA; UNEP and CCAC 2021) found that, relative to the waste and oil and gas sectors, agriculture had the least near-term potential to reduce methane emissions through technological measures. This is related to the challenges in scaling-up such measures globally and the limited ability of technology or changes in practices to decrease emissions from livestock. The GMA also identified three behavioural changes within agriculture and the global food system¹ which could reduce emissions significantly over the next few decades. Agriculture is also a key emitter of N₂O, “the world’s forgotten greenhouse gas”, which is particularly important given the pollutant swapping trade-offs in the agriculture sector. In 2024/25 the CCAC SAP is undertaking integrated assessments of Agriculture and Food Systems, and N₂O. 

Description and objective 

The objective of this session is to provide participants with an overview of agricultural emissions of methane and N₂O. Presentations will cover a variety of topics, including: nitrogen and methane pollution from agriculture and science driven sustainable agriculture. Following the presentation there will be a dialogue to discuss how the assessments can be used to address key gaps and barriers, to best support and provide appropriately framed evidence for mitigation in the sector. 

Speakers and agenda