FARMING OUR WAY OUT OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS

The document argues that the food, agriculture, and land use (FALU) sector is a primary driver of climate change, contributing approximately 24% of global emissions. It details strategies for reducing emissions—such as improving ruminant livestock management, rice cultivation, and fertilizer use—and explores the potential of 'regenerative agriculture' to sequester carbon in biomass and soils. While acknowledging the potential for biosequestration, the report cautions that these sinks are temporary, subject to 'slowdown' as they reach equilibrium, and vulnerable to reversal through land-use changes or climate disasters.

• The food, agriculture, and land use (FALU) sector is one of the top two contributors to climate change, accounting for approximately 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearly tying with electricity generation.
• The primary sources of greenhouse gases in the FALU sector are tropical deforestation and other land use (~9%), methane from animals and rice (~6%), and nitrous oxide from fertilizer and manure (~4%).
• Livestock production is a disproportionate emitter, contributing approximately 14-15% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions while providing only 10% of the world's food.
• Enteric fermentation from ruminants is the largest agricultural source of methane, responsible for approximately 70% of agricultural methane and 21% of all anthropogenic methane emissions.
• Agricultural practices can create carbon sinks in three pools: aboveground biomass (wood, leaves, grasses), belowground biomass (roots), and soil organic carbon (decomposed plant matter and microbes).
• Carbon sequestration in agricultural landscapes is not permanent and typically experiences a 'slowdown' as it approaches equilibrium; for improved annual cropping, this occurs between 20–50 years, and for managed grazing, between 20–100 years.
• Agroforestry systems, such as silvopasture and tree intercropping, generally offer higher carbon sequestration rates and more scientific certainty than regenerative annual cropping or managed grazing.
• The total lifetime sequestration potential for the world's croplands and grazing lands is estimated between 66–445 Gt-CO2-eq, which could only offset between 2 to 5 years of current global emissions.
• Carbon sequestered in soils and biomass is highly vulnerable to reversal; it can be quickly re-emitted if regenerative practices are ceased or through climate-fueled disasters such as fires and droughts.

APA

Toensmeier, E., Mehra, M., Frischmann, C., & Foley, J. (2020). FARMING OUR WAY OUT OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS. Project Drawdown. https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/DrawdownPrimer_FoodAgLandUse_Dec2020_01c.pdf

Chicago

Toensmeier, Eric, Mamta Mehra, Chad Frischmann, and Jonathan Foley. FARMING OUR WAY OUT OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS. Project Drawdown, 2020. https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/DrawdownPrimer_FoodAgLandUse_Dec2020_01c.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Toensmeier |first1=Eric |last2=Mehra |first2=Mamta |last3=Frischmann |first3=Chad |last4=Foley |first4=Jonathan |title=FARMING OUR WAY OUT OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS |publisher=Project Drawdown |date=December 2020 |url=https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/DrawdownPrimer_FoodAgLandUse_Dec2020_01c.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{toensmeier2020farming, author = {Toensmeier, Eric and Mehra, Mamta and Frischmann, Chad and Foley, Jonathan}, title = {{FARMING OUR WAY OUT OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS}}, institution = {Project Drawdown}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/DrawdownPrimer_FoodAgLandUse_Dec2020_01c.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }